Winner of the 2018 Flash Fiction Contest for NCWN West Members

                   

The Gift

by Lorraine Bennett

           The small plane spiraled out of the sky and blasted through a row of palm trees near the street behind Pat Steven’s cottage. The nightmare unfolded as she was having one of her own – riding a heaving deck, bracing against slippery planks.

           She awoke to a flash, no ocean, no rocking boat, just a dresser, a chair beside her bed, proof she was conscious. The throbbing glow outside was real.
           She struggled into her robe and opened her front door. The usual muggy South Miami night was filled with acrid smoke.
           In the street the air was so thick she could hardly see. Someone was crying.  Pat turned toward the sobs.
          “Come here, sweetheart. Come to me.” Her own voice seemed to originate from outside her body. I’m not dreaming, she thought.
           A toddler, pink dress blackened, eyes wild with fear, was crawling from underneath a charred bush.
           Pat gathered the shivering child, feeling warmth through her robe. She smelled smoke and fuel in the little girl’s hair.
           A fire truck careened by, followed by two police cars. Someone shouted, “Here’s one. She’s alive!”
           A burly uniformed man reached for the child, who reinforced her hold on Pat’s neck and would not let go.
          “Ma’am, do you know this child?” Uniformed man’s tone was sharp. “Is she injured?”
        “She doesn’t seem to be. She came from under that bush,” Pat heard her own voice again. I must be awake in the middle of this madness, she thought. She was aware the man was staring at her.
        The officer pried the child’s arms from Pat’s neck and handed her to ambulance attendants. Red emergency lights flared as the vehicle disappeared down the street. Pat could still hear sobs on her shoulder, see fear-filled eyes. A familiar feeling washed over her. Brushing away tears, she turned toward her cottage.
       A few hours later her bungalow seemed too quiet after last night’s chaos. Many Saturdays began this way, over coffee and newspapers, since Charlie died.
       Weekend mornings, their special togetherness time to play and plan, were hardest to endure. They were two dreamers with schooling behind, shining futures ahead. Charlie had opened his law practice. She had nailed a coveted job with the city’s largest accounting firm. They celebrated with a new sedan for her, sailboat for him.
        The sudden appearance of two friends at the front door had changed everything, including the shape of her dreams.  An unexpected squall and a sailboat shattered on rocks left her with nightmares of capsized boats. A vacant space at the breakfast table greeted her mornings.
         She read the newspaper’s recap of last night’s events: a 12-seat commuter plane, ten  bodies recovered, one survivor, a girl, about two, bruised, unidentified and unable to tell anyone even her name. Authorities were seeking passenger identities, the plane’s origin and destination. No aircraft was reported missing. No flight plan had been filed.
          Pat’s television blared to life with video of charred and twisted wreckage. A police officer, Sgt. Scott Morris, told an insistent reporter no further details were available.
          Pat could see the child’s frightened face. She and Charlie hadn’t had time for children. What might happen to that child now? The officer speculated the plane might have carried drugs. A “suspicious substance” had been found.
          “Maybe I can help find out who she is!” Pat sprang from her table. Half an hour later she was in Mercy General’s lobby.
           “You don’t understand. I found her after the crash!” In frustration, Pat was trying to pass an iron-jawed volunteer at the hospital’s front desk. A family of six descended, distracting the volunteer.  Pat backed away, tears stinging her eyes, and bumped into an immovable object.
            “Nice to see you again.”
            The voice, gruff with a hint of kindness, belonged to wide shoulders, denim jacket, khaki pants, dark brown hair, brown eyes.
            He nodded to the desk volunteer, then offered Pat a quirky smile.
            Flustered, she stammered, “Excuse me. Do I know you?”
             “I could never forget a face like yours." He smiled again.  Coming from him it didn’t sound like such a line.
             “You’re the officer from last night.” Pat felt herself relax. “I’m trying to find her. Do you know where she is?”
             ‘Third floor. Children’s ward. I’m headed there myself.” They fell into step toward lobby elevators.
             “Are you the officer I was reading about in the morning paper?”
             “Misquoted,” he frowned, but his eyes were merry. “We’re not supposed to mention drugs until the investigation’s complete. Not much doubt about this one.”
            “Suppose they’re all dead? Her whole family.” A crazy, against-all-logic idea was forming in Pat’s head. She’s alone. I’m alone. Why can’t two people who find each other in the night…
             The elevator doors opened. Pat heard howling.
             “That’s her. I know it.” She hurried down the hall, Scott Morris right behind her.
             A nurse with stethoscope hovered over the crib. The child was sitting up, rigid, red-faced, tears rolling from blue eyes. She saw Pat and stopped crying.
            The nurse turned. The child reached for Pat with chubby arms.
            “Can I pick her up?”
            “I don’t think so,” the nurse began, but the child’s arms were tight around Pat’s neck. Scott Morris’ quirky smile spread to a large grin.
             “Hey, you’ve got a way with kids,” he said admiringly. “You must have some of your own.”
              Pat blushed. That had been a touchy topic around her parents’ dinner table.
              “We’ll find her next-of-kin. Just a matter of time,” he predicted, unzipping a plastic tote. The brown teddy bear looked small in his large hands.
              The child gave a squeal of joy. The bear disappeared into chubby arms.
                “It’s a miracle she’s alive,” the nurse offered, checking vital signs now that the child was occupied with the toy.
                “That wasn’t the only miracle last night.”
                He said the words lightly. Pat blushed again. She had a crazy, against-all-logic thought. Why can’t two people who find each other in the night…
                                            

 I apologize for the format of this story. Copying it into the blog created some problems. Glenda Beall                                               

Admin for NCWN-West is looking for a replacement; could that be you?

Hello, my name is Joan Ellen Gage. I serve as your Admin for the NCWN-West's blog.

I am searching for a replacement for my Admin position. What we need is someone who can post articles for the NCWN-West that relate to events or to member reading or news.

Some familiarity with Google blogger is helpful, but not necessary. The position requires some basic computer skills, and blogging skills.

This is a volunteer position and does not pay a salary.

Please contact me at iamjellen1953@gmail.com or Glenda Beall, at: glendabeall@msn.com

Poet Karen Paul Holmes to read at Coffee with the Poets & Writers, Wednesday, July 18, 2018, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

On Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 10:30 AM, Coffee with the poets and writers will feature poet Karen Paul Holmes. This event is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers' Network-West, a program of the North Carolina Writers' Network. It will be held at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC, and is free and open to the public. An open mic will follow the reading. Holmes is a local favorite and will be sure to have an excellent following.

Karen Paul Holmes splits her time between Atlanta and the Blue Ridge Mountains. She is a former Vice President-Marketing Communications at ING, a global financial services company, but now leads a kinder gentler life as a freelance writer and poet. Holmes finds joy participating in poetry readings and supporting poetry.

A member of the North Carolina Writers' Network, the Atlanta Writers Club, and the Georgia Poetry Society, Holmes has studied with poets: Thomas Lux, Denise Duhamel, Dorianne Laux, Joseph Millar, William Wright, Carol Ann Duffy, and Nancy Simpson (whom she counts as her first poetry mentor).

Holmes has two full-length poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books, 2018) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich Press, 2014). In 2012, she received an Elizabeth George Foundation emerging writer grant for poetry. She was chosen as a Best Emerging Poet in 2016 by Stay Thirsty Media. Publications include Prairie Schooner, Valparaiso Review, Tar River Poetry, Poet Lore and other journals and anthologies. Holmes hosts a critique group in Atlanta and Writers’ Night Out in Blairsville, GA, which she founded. She also teaches writing classes at the Folk School, Writer’s Circle, and other venues. Please find Holmes' links here:

https://www.karenpaulholmes.com/

https://www.facebook.com/karenholmespoetry

Coffee with the Poets and Writers if sponsored by the North Carolina Writers' Network-West. For more information, please contact Glenda Beall at:

glendabeall@msn.com

FLASH FICTION CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Pat Meece Davis, NC Writers Network West member from Brevard has announced the winners of the Flash Fiction Contest for NCWN West members only.

Our winners:

    1. "The Gift" by Lorraine Bennett

Lorraine Bennett

Lorraine grew up in Murphy, NC, graduated with her high school class journalism medal and received a scholarship to UNC Chapel Hill.

   Her career began on the Atlanta Journal where she covered news and met her husband. His job took them west. She was hired by the Los Angeles Times and became the newspaper’s first woman to head a domestic bureau.

   The Bennetts returned to Atlanta and she joined fledgling CNN as a news writer. She became copy editor, producer and editorial manager before ending her career at CNN International.

   She retired in 2006 and built a farmhouse on Martins Creek family land. She still practices her craft by covering county government and copy editing for the Clay County Progress weekly.

   She is trying to leap from journalist to novelist and finished her first book, a psychological thriller, last year. She is writing a sequel and seeking an agent.

 

    2. "Show Me the Cache" by Bob Grove

Bob Grove

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Bob Grove earned his Bachelor’s degree at Kent State University and his Master’s degree at Florida Atlantic University. During his 17-year public school career, he taught courses in English, science, and psychology. He has published 19 books and hundreds of articles in 24 magazines, including his own, Monitoring Times. His writings have earned several gold medals in the North Carolina Silver Arts literature competition. 
 As a public affairs director for an ABC-TV station, he hosted numerous programs. Now retired, he is a prose critique facilitator for the North Carolina Writers Network and an officer for the Ridgeline Literary Alliance. Bob’s public readings are popular as a performance art form, typified by his well-attended annual reading, in costume and multiple character dialects, of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.  

 

     3. "Mother-Daughter Act" by Nancy Swanson

Nancy Swanson

Nancy Swanson is a retired educator living just outside of Brevard. She was a winner of the 2003 South Carolina Fiction Project, and her poetry has been published in English Journal, South Carolina Review, and Chattahoochee Review, among others. This year she won the Sidney Lanier Poetry Award for poetry. She and her husband, Ben, share four children, one grandchild, and a love for mountain trails. She thanks her writing mentors, Nancy Purcell and Darlene O'Dell, as well as her writing groups for their encouragement and support.

 

Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all who entered the contest.

A special thanks to Pat Davis who has facilitated this contest for the second time and to the judges who are not members of NCWN West, but are experienced and well published writers. 
 

 Pat Meese Davis, author of books for children

 

Local Poets will read their work that witnesses to “The Magic of These Mountains,” Friday July 6, 2018, at the Towns County Library, Hiawassee, GA

Friday, July 6, 2018, poets Glenda Barrett, Joan Howard and Mary Ricketson will read their poetry that witnesses to the magic of the mountains surrounding us. The event will be held at the Towns County Library, in Hiawassee, GA, from 3 to 5 PM. 

Glenda Barrett, a native of Hiawassee, Georgia, is an artist, poet, and writer. Her work has been widely published since her first writing class in 1997 and has appeared in: Woman's World, Farm & Ranch Living, Country Woman, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Journal of Kentucky Living, Nantahala Review, Rural Heritage, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Kaleidoscope Magazine and many more.

Barrett is the author of two poetry books, When the Sap Rises, from Finishing Line Press, and The Beauty of Silence, from Kelsay Books. Both books are available on Amazon.com. Barrett is a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

Mary A.Ricketson, of Murphy NC, has been writing poetry for 20 years; to satisfy a hunger, to taste life down to the very last drop. She is inspired by nature and her work as a mental health counselor. Her poetry has been published in Wild Goose Poetry Review, Future Cycle Press, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Lights in the Mountains, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, and Freeing Jonah. 

Ricketson has three published books, I Hear the River Call my Name, from Finishingline Press, Hanging Dog Creek, from FutureCycle Press, and Shade and Shelter, from Kelsay Books. All books are available on Amazon.com. Ricketson is Cherokee County's Representative for the NCWN-West, and is the president of Ridgeline Literary Alliance.

Joan M. Howard’s poetry has been published in POEM, The Road Not Taken: The Journal of Formal Poetry, the Aurorean, Lucid Rhythms, Victorian Violet, the Wayfarer and other literary journals. She has two books, Death and Empathy: My Sister Web, available on Amazon.com and  Jack, Love and the Daily Grail,  available from Kelsay Books and Amazon.com.   

Howard is a former teacher with an MA in German and English literature and member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

Light refreshments will be available, and the public is invited to this free event. The Town's County Library address is: 99 South Berrong Street, Hiawassee, GA 30546; their phone is:  706-896-6169.