Jolie wasn’t like other kids. Not since that time.
No, maybe not ever.
She’d spend hours out back in the thicket of woods, sometimes just staring up for glimpses of sky; sometimes running her hands along the tree bark with her eyes closed, whispering. Once she pulled apart the carpet of pine needles and laid them flat in a path all through the grove. She made it magic, she did.
I tried to show Harlan but he couldn’t see. “That one ain’t right in the head.” As he left the glade, his boots scuffed all through her pine mosaic.
She was always giving us things too. Once she wove Jilly a purse from hawk feathers and then there was the bow she made Jobe out a some leavings from the downed chestnut.
Then Ricket died.
And God, that kid loved that dog more than all the rest of us combined. For days after, Jolie’d come home covered from head to toe in Virginia mud. Finally, she asked us to see it. That statue she’d made: a perfect likeness of her beloved dog, crafted from nothing but twigs and earth.
Even Harlan could see it then: that kid was special.
Sunday Photo Fiction prompt
This has been an edition of the Sunday Photo Fiction prompt, courtesy Al Forbes. To read more 100-200 word flash fiction inspired by the photo, or to submit your own, click the blue froggy button:
k. Rawson 
Fabulous voice, and lots of elegant little touches. A sweet story well told.
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Awwww you’re very kind.
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Beautifully sad story. A lot of feeling in it
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This is a very sad story, although I guess it could pick up for Jodie now that everybody could see that she is special. Such a lot of emotion in such a small piece, well done.
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What a delightful tale, superbly told.
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Great job, and what a work of art out of mud and twigs. Sad that ricket died.
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Wonderful story! Jodie will no longer have Ricket around, but she has made a very special resemblance of him that she can keep.
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Such wonderful depth and imagination.
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Well done, Karen. I haven’t tried flash fiction, but you inspire me to give it a go.
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You definitely should try it, it’s fun (and a little addictive 🙂
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What a creative take on the prompt — and so touching, too. So much character insight in so few words, nicely done!
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I can only echo the other comments. This story is special! 🙂
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Very cool. Hope she figures out a way to turn talent into income!
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I’m a sucker for a dead dog story…lol.
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A beautiful story! Loved it!
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