Break From Reality. Daily.
This story is by Laura Porter Taylor and was part of our 2024 Spring Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. There comes a time when forgotten words from a poem in a literature class or read as a child come back to haunt you, like a much-loved song you can’t stop…
This story is by Laura Porter Taylor and was part of our 2022 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. I pull into the driveway of the dilapidated farmhouse on Fairview Lane, thoughts flitting through my head like dragonflies on the autumn goldenrod waving in the field below. “It sucks being…
This story is by Laura Porter Taylor and was part of our 2022 Spring Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. There’s something about a Mason jar. It holds so many things, some practical, some not. Garden fresh tomatoes, summer’s crisp green beans, the first plum preserves of the season. For…
This story is by Laura Porter Taylor and was part of our 10th Anniversary Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. I glance at the screen on my smartphone for the tenth time in twenty minutes. Drumming my fingers on the white starched tablecloth in front of me, my left foot,…
This story is by Laura Porter Taylor and was part of our 2021 Spring Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here. Jenna Scott sat in her assigned seat for choir rehearsal on Wednesday night, three weeks before Christmas. It was now routine after 13 years singing with a group of people…
A cold spring rain falls softly as she sits on the damp curb skirting the asphalt drive. She should have grabbed a blanket, not that it matters. She is emotionally anesthetized most of the time and too tired to care. For the umpteenth time, quitting crosses her mind, especially after she loses a patient. Three died this morning.
Meditation sometimes helps her unwind. She reaches into the depths of her heart, seeking a spark of nostalgia to recall the last time she laughed. Pictures and sounds of joyful exuberance with her family at Christmas fill her thoughts. She closes her eyes for a few moments in remembrance.
