Writing Prompt 18: Flip-flops
There’s a power in stories of lost treasures and cherished memories. Find the emotions tied to them and celebrate the beauty in everyday things.
I lost a silver bangle once. My mum gave it to me for my 18th birthday.
I'd worn it every day for about 15 years. I found it again, three weeks later, down the back of the sofa.
Have you ever lost something precious? Not necessarily something of value but something full of meaning for you.
Write a story reflecting on a lost item from your past. Perhaps it was a cherished piece of jewellery like mine or something ordinary but deeply significant. Let's celebrate the beauty in the ordinary and the memories attached to the things we hold dear.
Until next time.
Lost and Found
"How have you been?"
Sandra shrugged her shoulders high then deep. She sighed and stared at the tissue in her hand.
"I lost my father on Friday."
"Oh, I'm so sorry Sandra. You've talked about him. How has that been for you? It's very soon to be here. Maybe too soon."
"Why do we say that?" Sandra spoke down into her lap.
"Why do we say what?" The therapist's voice was gentle.
"I ‘lost’ my father as if I'd forgotten him in the supermarket or left him in the car park. He's not lost. He's..."
The therapist said nothing. Waiting. Sandra squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her lips together, trying not to let the grief spill out of her.
"He died," she said in a whisper so quiet the therapist leaned forward in her chair to hear.
Silence hung between them. A burst of emotion blurted out of Sandra's body expelling through her mouth. She held the tissue to her face letting the soggy paper absorb more of her tears. The therapist passed her a new box of tissues. Sandra pulled several from the box and drank some water from the fresh glass on the small table beside her.
"I like your boots," she said.
The therapist jogged her foot up and down before stopping and placing her feet side by side on the floor.
"He was a terrible man," said Sandra lifting her head and looking Eileen straight in the eye.
Story first posted September 2020 / Photo: Tanya Clarke - Salmon Arm, Canada 2020
