Relationships

Anna reflected on her most cherished companions.

There wasn’t a room in her home that didn’t feel their presence. They helped her become organized and value the importance of scheduling her days.

When they stopped behaving as expected, especially at times of need, Anna fell apart.

Her son noticed the untimely demise. How she missed appointments or arrived late for others. How her personality took on an air of grumpiness.

“Let’s get you back on track,” he said, visiting one day.

Once he fitted batteries into the once silenced clocks, his mother bounced back.

Her time-focused companions ticked on.

From Guest Contributor Krystyna Fedosejevs

Krystyna writes poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction while trying to keep warm through a Canadian winter.

The Importance Of Listening

I went on my own because I couldn't get anyone to come with me. What had once been an orchard was now a graveyard for old tires, sprung mattresses, rusty paint cans, even broken microwaves, scattered over the slope like the indecipherable wreckage of some puzzling event. The trees, untended for years, had long since stopped producing apples and been twisted into painful shapes by time and storms and then overwhelmed by creeper vines and opportunistic birds and insects. I just stood with my head cocked to one side as if trying to catch every single word the crows said.

From Guest Contributor Howie Good

Howie co-edits the journals UnLost and Unbroken.