The Actress
I wrote this to honor my IRL friend Sabrina Lloyd who did go on to achieve a successful career in acting, until she decided on her own terms, she didn’t want it anymore.
Find Her Phone – A Short Story Family Thriller
Light seeps under my closed bedroom door. The signal that my newly minted adult daughter hasn’t made it home. I ignore my full bladder and jostle my husband. “What time is it?” He raises his head. “Six-fifteen. Why?” “I think the light on the staircase is still on. Either Lauren hasn’t made it home or…
The Mimosa Tree
When I started writing fiction, I had no idea that prologues were a fiction death-wish. I cut my prologue and got a deal. But, I think she has some merit. It’s first person POV, but definitely reads as memoir. Anyway, maybe you enjoy. So here you go. The Mimosa Tree Dad only made gumbo on…
Hello, I’m Beer Can Island
On the map I’m known as Pine Key Tampa Bay, but I’m infamously known to the locals as Beer Can Island—which I prefer. I’m a pretty big deal here in Tampa Bay. At least I think so. Folks are in a pretty good mood when they’re here—evidenced by abundant smiles. On most weekends boats line…
The Abortion
HOUSING PROJECTS Southern Mississippi 1960s Lamar held my trembling hand in his sweaty one. A white doctor in dirty scrubs put my feet in stirrups. My knees locked. Two colored nurses in plain clothes draped a sheet over a wall-to-wall wire, cutting off my view of my torso. Not that I wanted to watch. The…
Osprey
Yesterday, while visiting my boat to clear a mama osprey’s nesting debris, inspiration hit. It’s not perfection, but it’s from the heart.
A Day in My Autistic Life: If Mom Could Read My Mind
Thirty seconds left. I sprint through the Mushroom Kingdom. I must save Princess Peach. I smash Goombas and Koopas. I pound bricks and hoard coins. Resurrection comes at a price and I’m short. The ground rumbles. Bowser’s closing in. Behind two white clouds, a castle appears. I’m so close. A bridge. I miss. I don’t…
The Prodigal Daughter – A Personal Short Story
A mother had two daughters. The hard-working eldest found and filled her purpose in life. The abundantly talented youngest struggled to find hers. Vulnerability struck and drew her from the safety of her loving family and into a toxic secret world. To her sister and mother, she painted a counterfeit canvas bathed in hollow hues…
Little Bear – A Spooky Short Story
“Damn. I’m gonna be late again.” I rapid-fire my horn. “Move over!” I yell at the mud-caked forest-green John Deer. The fast-paced Orlando traffic is nothing compared to the frustration of crawling behind an overgrown tortoise. I’d much rather race a hare down I-4. I dig my cell phone out of my corduroy knapsack and…
Amy Nielsen 