It wasn't pretty. There were bones and ashes in a pile on the bank of the stream. There were dead rabbits hanging from the trees. There were skins hanging from a rack near the fire. And there was no one to be seen.
Besides her that is. She was being seen. The tiny creature had hidden in a crook of a tree behind its camp. It was freaked out, more freaked out than the woman was, because this was the first human it had seen for more than twenty years.
The tiny creature decided it was time to rejoin the human race, and crept silently forward to get a better look at the woman, who was not very large herself. The woman had been searching for this campsite for thirty years. She drew a bible out of her colorfully embroidered satchel, sat at the fire, and began to pray.
The tiny creature recognized first the satchel, which had the name "Claire" embroidered on it, and then the praying woman. The tiny creature eagerly approached the woman.
"Claire" the woman said.
This is my entry to @mariannewest's daily freewrite challenge. Today's prompt is bones and ashes.
I've been thinking about who or what decides what is sane behavior, and what is insane. I think both of these women are perfectly sane. What do you think?
Sane but guilty of something
I now know @nikv reads my posts to the very last word. Thanks for doing that! And for the curation, I'll bet that curangel was via you. I appreciate you!
Yup, it's a pleasure!
This is dark! At first, anyway.
For 20 years, a girl has survived in the wilds, killing and skinning her own rabbits?
and this Bible-bearing woman has searched for 30 years for this site.... was the little girl part of some cult that got exterminated, and she alone survived?
So many questions and possibilities. Your short stories are always a treasure trove to unpack.
The tiny creature recognizes the satchel and the name and "eagerly" approaches the woman, so I'm taking this as a happy ending.
Coincidentally, we finished the final season of The Sopranos Friday night, and I am still in shock. The way it all goes suddenly black - the way it might if a bullet stops human life in an instant.
Very dramatic.
What a wonderful but wearying TV series. Sooo much violence. So many fatherless children.
Brothers, nephews, sons, girlfriends: nobody is safe. "Family" first means the mafia family first. Everyone else is at risk of being a casualty to protect that life of crime.
How did I just watch six seasons of this?
Are you conscious of any news stories or historical incidents inspiring your "Claire" story?
No need to tell me what they were, if there were any....
Aha. Your hashtags offer clues. "Off grid."
Maybe these were homesteaders.
maybe the Bible bearer is a grandma, or a mom whose ex got custody of their daughter....
Good grief, I'm still thinking about this.
The tiny creature could be a cat or dog.....
Not that a dog could climb into the crook of a tree.......
The crook of a tree is a bit inconsistent with the conclusion of the story, I have to admit, but it's a freewrite, so it's OK!
haha I love it when you read my stories, and find stuff in them I did not even know was there!
Inspired by a book I would say, which I think I've talked to you about, The Stranger In The Woods Michael Finkle. Dude exits society at a very young age, surviving by robbing the homes and cabins around him. Is eventually caught (decades later) and forced to live more normally, which was considered to be more sane. He became truly fucked up and miserable,and allowed to not be imprisoned if he kept it up. The story is fascinating but the bio is not great, a violation of his privacy.
And you know where the name came from.
I also watched the Sopranos obsessively, and I do not watch that kind of thing much at all. I don't care for being afraid, disgusted, and horrified. But that show sucked me in. There were several episodes I can't get out of my mind. Especially that last one, when I understood the depths and nuances of his depravity.
Have you tried Peaky Blinders? Also sucked me right in and I hope for a continuation.
We did try Peaky Blinders and it was so violent, we found something lighter (probably Mrs. Maisel). Maybe I should try it again? I really hate how much VIOLENCE we see on the big screen. And for all the anti-gun agitators in Hollywood, they can't seem to film a movie without guns.
Ok, so your "tiny creature" is human (and still tiny after 20+ years; the Bible woman has been searching for 30 years for the camp). "Claire" can be a boy's name too (less commonly). And yes, I didn't suppose you were thinking of the "Clair" song which, today, strikes me as pedo-creepy: