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I grew up on a dirt road with quiet skies and darkened rooms where there was one light in the center of the room and two table lamps, a luxury beside a rocking chair and one end of the couch for reading. The kitchens had a dim bulb in the middle as did the bedrooms.…
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I’ve been to two funerals this week. Two uncles, one from my dad, one from my mom. Dad’s brother had a military funeral, Mom’s brother had a Masonic funeral. The military funeral had a twenty-one gun salute at the end of it. The Masons chanted and made hand signals. Both were dignified and sent the…
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There were hundreds of acres to explore and I suppose we stepped through all of them. We walked through the woods for miles, following each other. The path was the one we created, or sometimes the deer or both. They are creatures of habits, the same as we. We had no place in mind to…
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I have two distinct memories before I could walk. The first one was being held in my uncle’s arms and reaching for my mother. I loved my uncle Paul as much as any six or seven month old can love another human being who’s around all the time. But I remember throwing my body towards…
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Cold…killing cold.
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The genie granted me three wishes and of course the first two came true in a blaze of glory. He told me to be wise with my wishes and I felt that I was, foolishment was meant for sissies, I wanted all my wishes to mean something. To be granted wishes was nothing to sneeze…
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The first job Lucy had was in Brunetti’s Family Restaurant waiting tables, fast paced and busy. You had to be light on your feet and quick in your head to keep up with the baked steak and chicken and dumplin’s coming out of the kitchen. Who got iced tea with lemon and who didn’t mattered…
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With rigid rigor, the school board called a two hour delay for students in ice and snow before any roads had even been treated after an all night snow storm. Employees were to report on time. In an abrupt change of plans, half an hour before school was supposed to begin, a remote day was…
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“Let’s go to Goodwill,” said Ian. “I need to get Mom a birthday present.” He knew there was nothing I wanted more than an antique butter dish with a lid, and the best place to find it was at a thrift shop. Goodwill came to his mind first. Thrift shops carried specialty items. Like the…
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The truth is a burning promise I have to live up to or lie about. Truth comes in lots of flavors. It’s easier to lie and ignore what’s in front of me sometimes. Knowing what I have to do to live up to the standards of school, or home, or law. I’d rather live one…
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Idle Hands
“Keep your hands busy and the hours will pass like minutes,” she said while she pulled the needle up through the fabric. “Don’t let your mind dwell on the world around you. Focus inside yourself. Focus on that which you create. The blanket with the yarn, the dress with the fabric, the stories with the… Read more
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Spiders, Flies, and Coffee
“Spiders, Flies, and Coffee” a Quirky Flash Fiction Piece by Devonne Brown Published in Chewers and Masticadores, April 29, 2025 Read more
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Well, you never asked…
Your eyes filled with tears-Why didn’t you let me help?Well, you never asked.Can I come as well?I’m bouncing from foot to foot.Well, you never asked.Why don’t you join meSwinging arms, walking, skipping?Well, you never asked. Well, you never asked….is a statement about you or me. I could make it all about me, or all about… Read more
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Longing: 2 Haiku
Longing: 1 HaikuClosing my eyes andWanting what hasn’t been gainedSmiling wistfullyLonging: 2 HaikuSpending time aloneI rub my hand o’r my heartA weight in my chest Read more
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Thank you, Mr. Sullivan
I suppose the Appalachian tradition of giving kids weird names, Stanley Hugo, Ervin Otto, or even Oral Homer was part and parcel of growing up in the isolation of the hollers. I was the last of the kids to get a holler name before we moved out to the suburbs, I suppose.My brother got stuck… Read more
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Report Card
My son is judging me. If he were to give me a report card it would be how long do I stay awake when I come home from school, how much time do I spend writing, how often and well do I cook for him, how clean do I keep my room, how clean do… Read more
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I grew up on a dirt road with quiet skies and darkened rooms where there was one light in the center of the room and two table lamps, a luxury beside a rocking chair and one end of the couch for reading. The kitchens had a dim bulb in the middle as did the bedrooms.…
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I’ve been to two funerals this week. Two uncles, one from my dad, one from my mom. Dad’s brother had a military funeral, Mom’s brother had a Masonic funeral. The military funeral had a twenty-one gun salute at the end of it. The Masons chanted and made hand signals. Both were dignified and sent the…
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There were hundreds of acres to explore and I suppose we stepped through all of them. We walked through the woods for miles, following each other. The path was the one we created, or sometimes the deer or both. They are creatures of habits, the same as we. We had no place in mind to…
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I have two distinct memories before I could walk. The first one was being held in my uncle’s arms and reaching for my mother. I loved my uncle Paul as much as any six or seven month old can love another human being who’s around all the time. But I remember throwing my body towards…
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Cold…killing cold.
-
The genie granted me three wishes and of course the first two came true in a blaze of glory. He told me to be wise with my wishes and I felt that I was, foolishment was meant for sissies, I wanted all my wishes to mean something. To be granted wishes was nothing to sneeze…
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The first job Lucy had was in Brunetti’s Family Restaurant waiting tables, fast paced and busy. You had to be light on your feet and quick in your head to keep up with the baked steak and chicken and dumplin’s coming out of the kitchen. Who got iced tea with lemon and who didn’t mattered…
-
With rigid rigor, the school board called a two hour delay for students in ice and snow before any roads had even been treated after an all night snow storm. Employees were to report on time. In an abrupt change of plans, half an hour before school was supposed to begin, a remote day was…
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“Let’s go to Goodwill,” said Ian. “I need to get Mom a birthday present.” He knew there was nothing I wanted more than an antique butter dish with a lid, and the best place to find it was at a thrift shop. Goodwill came to his mind first. Thrift shops carried specialty items. Like the…
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The truth is a burning promise I have to live up to or lie about. Truth comes in lots of flavors. It’s easier to lie and ignore what’s in front of me sometimes. Knowing what I have to do to live up to the standards of school, or home, or law. I’d rather live one…
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Climbing the Rope
Image generated with AI. Emmy fumed. She’d been struggling to climb that rope for three weeks and still hadn’t made it two feet off the ground. Her face was red, her hands burned, her thighs chafed. She headed to the dreaded locker room to change, so she could hear more jeers from the cheer leaders…
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The Odd
Sometimes, the odd is a catalyst for transcendence. Incessant noise and chatter become too much in everyday life and I want to lash out and run into a meadow of wildflowers and ferns, seek shelter in an old shed and call it a day. Call it a life. The closer I get to reality, the…
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Relaxation Prison
One could call my home a relaxation prison. I don’t go anywhere or do anything of consequence to anyone but me. I plant and water flowers and watch them flourish along forest paths. I write in solitude. I prepare and eat my meals in solitude. I do everything alone. My warden, Norris, demands his cream.…
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Hurricane
My heart will always be in the green of Appalachian small towns. The first house I remember was a one room school house converted into a four room house with a porch, and an outhouse out back. I have a picture of my sister and I playing in its backyard in front of the outhouse…
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In the Midnight Hour
In the midnight hour, when no one else is around or listening, the story I tell myself is that I didn’t fall off the turnip train yesterday. That the voice of Linda Ronstadt still rings true in my heart and head. I’m still the woman I was forty years ago even though I have silver…
Devonne Brown 