Using the lovely autumnal image below as inspiration, I decided to go with an eco-horror-themed MG piece this year. Photo cred: Unsplash via Patrick Tomasso

The Red Night (199 words)

It’s been thirty-six days since I’ve seen another person. Thirty-six days since the Red Night.  

The night the September sky beckoned a blood moon that no astronomer could have seen coming. 

I was in the cellar when the sun set, looking for a jar of plum preserves—the dark-purple-perfect kind.  

As I climbed out, I could feel it in the atmosphere. A charge. The feeling just before lightning strikes a tree nearby.  

Dad’s truck idled in the driveway, its radio purring static, driver’s seat empty. Fireflies winked around three bowls of melting ice cream on the picnic table.  

They were gone. Dad, Mom, Jade.  

Later that night, the animals came.

First the foxes, playing tag under crimson moonbeams. Then the last of the bison, lumbering down from the high plains to feast in our orchard. 

At dawn, a cougar leapt onto the truck’s roof and went to sleep.  

Soon, I’ll have to leave this house. Scavenge.  

Already, the maples have spread auburn arms across the highway. Their leaves touch now and whisper tree-talk.  

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that there are things about the Earth that surpass human understanding.  

But maybe one day, I’ll know why I’m still here. 

The Stick Libary
By Kelly Clasen WC: 150

Hound sniffs and wiggles. 
Wags and snuffles. 
Decisions, decisions.
Which stick will he pick?

Smooth driftwood smells like the ocean.
The birch branch gleams white and fresh.
But the oak limb—it’s just the right size.
Slurp.
It tastes like springtime.
And adventure!
Hound’s teeth clamp down.

“Let’s go, boy!”

It’s off to the beach!
Chasing, 
racing,
Hound romps with his stick.
He flips it, 
flings it,
up-in-the-air zings it!


Uh-oh.
Here comes Terrier.
With the zoomies.
And a trade?
Hound tests her tennis ball
with its slobber-slick fuzz.

Ick. 
It’s no stick.

Stick safely retrieved,
Hound rolls 
in sun-soaked sand.

Ahhh.

He rests,
heart pounding,
tongue lolling.

For a moment,
it’s just waves rolling,
gulls calling.
And dog. 
And stick. 
And sea.

Tweeeee! 
A whistle breaks his reverie.

“Time to go, boy!”

Hound pounces and chomps,
dashes and romps,
once more
before returning his prize
to the stick library. 

Inspirational GIF by Elena Maykhrych:

For more tiny stories that pack a punch, see https://viviankirkfield.com/category/50preciouswords-writing-contest/

My post “The Festive Farm” earned the Dazzlingly Delightful badge this year. I’ll take it! All participants receive some sort of badge, making this online event perfect for the giving season and a good representation of the generosity of the kidlit community. Happy holidays, all!

The Festive Farm

It’s Christmas Eve on Grandpa’s farm, and Natalie is working hard to bring the hard-working animals holiday cheer.

Inside the barn, Natalie stands a small cedar tree in a bucket and begins stringing snow-white popcorn, Santa-red cranberries, and reindeer-brown nuts.

But when she circles back around to the front of the tree, the strings are bare!

Gabby goose, Penny hen, and Bessie bunny munch happily and hop off for a long winter’s nap.

Determined to decorate the tree, Natalie climbs up a stack of square hay bales, pulls the tree up after her, and begins stringing again.

But when she circles back around, she comes face-to-face with Lolli lamb and Margot goat; they bleat their happy thanks for the mid-winter feast!

Natalie spends the rest of Christmas Eve sharing popcorn, berries, and nuts with her farm friends, leaving her heart as warm and full as the cozy barn.