Friday, July 23, 2010

Flash 55 - Alzheimer's


Picking up the small tube, she twisted the bottom until
the pretty color was all of the way out.
 She brought it up towards her face, hesitated,
and looking at herself in the mirror,
smeared the color on both cheeks.

“Oh, Miss Opal,” the caregiver said coming into the room,
“that’s lipstick, dear.”

18 comments:

  1. I love this!! Great job, PW! Great flash fiction, and a beautiful picture too. You captured our attention and hooked us in few words

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  2. Opal had the right idea. She wanted to add some color to her face and just got her cosmetics confused. I hope she doesn't become too upset by her understandable error.

    See, you brought me into Opal's day with your 55 words. Way to go!

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  3. I had written more but it was over the 55 words limit. Shaddy, you knew what would come next!

    She dropped the tube into the sink and covered her eyes with her trembling hands.

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  4. You definitely captured a moment with this one. It feels so real.

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  5. Thank you! Although this hasn't happened yet, I'm preparing myself for the eventuality of it.
    I'm wondering where you all find the pictures that you attach to your stories. It seems free illustrations are hard to find.

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  6. Ah. Didn't know this was in your life. Contact me if you want to chat. If it helps, Opal would most likely be at the point where she would not understand what she'd done.

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  7. Simply and beautifully expressed. Your words stir up such a strong feeling of sorrow and compassion. Very nicely done.

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  8. I take my own pictures, download them into my laptop and then upload them to my blog posts.

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  9. They are always gorgeous! I was looking for a picture to put with my breast cancer piece and I couldn't find one I wanted to use, so ended up with the beautiful rose. It worked, but I have seen some great pictures on these blog posts.

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  10. Go out in your garden & take some! Also take your camera along when you go to car shows, or to the beach or the park or even the city. Get closer or father away than you normally would to your subject. Think geometry. Put the subject of your pic in the corner of the shot or off to one side & show more background. Leave most of the subject outside of your pic & just have a bit of it showing to give perspective. Lie on the ground & look up at things you would normally see from above. Pretend you shrunk ;)lol

    And have fun!

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  11. Kirsten did a blog post about finding pictures and copyright issues. If you search her archives you should be able to find it and get all the information you need.
    I think we're going to have to rename her blog 'disobedient hard drive'.

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  12. Dayner,

    Who's Kristen and where's her blog? I'm interested in reading that piece.

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  13. Kirsten is the last one on my blog list to the right. Disobedient Writer Kirsten - it is under the marketing tab "Where to get images for your blog". She has been MIA for the last month or so. Thanks Dayner for the tip! And thanks Sandra for the pix-taking ideas!

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  14. Sorry I'm late again. I tried to comment yesterday, but wasn't signed into wordpress so it would not allow me. (*kicking stuff*)

    I loved the way you portrayed this. There is a sense of innocence that comes through. I remember my Great-Great Grandmother in her last days when her mind started to drift. She was always so sweet and cute. Like an innocent child. None of the anger, rage or violence that can sometimes come. This reminded me of her so much. Thank you for bringing that memory back to the surface.

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  15. I've been using http://www.morguefile.com/ lately. There are lots of pics, it seems well-organized, it's free, and you don't have to give attribution for most of the pictures.

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  16. Thanks for all the suggestions for photos and sites! This will help greatly.

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  17. PW, I love this!! Brilliant and very sweet.

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  18. Thanks Kathan! I appreciate your comments.

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