(This short-short story was just published in the online literary journal Train Flash Fiction. I love writing flash fiction. For one thing, it’s really short! But not as easy as you might think. Trying to write a story in a few lines or under 500 words is sometimes more challenging than having all the pages you need. This one clocks in at 174 words. Link below or read here.)

http://trainlitmag.weebly.com/

The Notebook

She thinks she might be getting dementia. As soon as she thinks this, she writes it down in her notebook, because if she is getting dementia she might not remember she is getting it, and she will have lost this moment of lucidity forever. So her notebook, with its lists and notes, will be critical. It will be her guidepost, her hedge against dementia. That and long walks and her crossword puzzles. Not Sudoku though. She has always hated math and gets irritated at those Sudoku people on trains with their smug whiff of superior intellectualism, although it occurs to her that they might feel the same way about her and her crosswords.

There are some things she would like to forget (her divorce, her cruelty to her ex). And there are things she would like to remember (maybe she could make another list?) But the things she would like most to forget seem to be the very things she can’t.

The mind is a truly screwed-up thing, she thinks. Brilliant. Write that down.

I found this amazing set of books at a swap meet several years ago: “With the World’s Great Travelers.” I think the set was about $40. The bindings are pretty shredded and the book covers are not in the best shape, but the inside pages are intact and very readable. I love browsing through them to get possible story ideas. There are a lot of first-person travel stories from a world that no longer exists. Case in point: The Pink and White Terraces of New Zealand, a onetime “Wonder of the World,” that was obliterated in a volcanic eruption in 1886. I used the descriptions of travelers who had seen this wonder, and wove it into a story of a young woman who might have traveled there. You can read my story in a separate post today.

Today I ran over to the Chicago Botanic Garden as soon as I got an email that was sent out to members, that two corpse flowers were going to be in a rare dual bloom for about twenty-four hours. As a writer who has written several short stories about husbands who meet unsavory endings, I knew I had to witness the blooming of a corpse flower. Not sure how I will use it yet, but there are certainly some possibilities…

After taking the month of May off from my daily postings to this website, I will be back tomorrow, June 1st. I will still be sharing some previously published work, as well as links to current essays and stories. Also, I may post new work or commentary that is too long for Twitter, but not long enough for a “normal” essay. Thanks for following my blog!