Write for Five Minutes

Flash Fiction Prompt 
 ©️ Linnea Heaney

Story Breath

In writing a 32-page picture book, one considers page turns and illustrations. Illustrations are brought by an artist. To paraphrase a Sendak comment, illustrations say what the words do not, and words say what illustrations do not. In polishing my work-in-progress, I felt that place was a character, the canyon characteristics inform as much as a story plot point. Place is where story breath allows for a deeper space, a moment of reflection.

While deciding what illustration notes to include with the manuscript, I realized that illustrations were also key in the spots where the story needed to breathe. Nothing told in words, nothing specifically told in illustrations, but in the showing of the main character just being in the story setting, breathing in place. Words might by near, illustrations are bumping into big page spreads, but it is in those double-pages where story breath creates space. The action of story breath and a child listening fosters the story theme of resiliency. That is the real story.

In the art of the picture book and the literacy intent of the person reading to a child, there are a series of triangular connections. First triangle of connection is the words, the art, and the child. One step deeper, is the writer, the illustrator, and the lap or trusted reading circle of family, teachers, or librarians. Looking further, there is the written story, the illustrated story, and the story heard by the child. Story breaths allow for the space where the child internalizes the story. The emergent literacy learnings of the the child are heightened when all of the interactions at the multiple steps are engaged. In the case of my story, the story layer of resiliency is presented as a concept. Repeated readings are a function of a picture book and the developmental needs of the child. The readings open the windows for the child's learning opportunities. Story breaths create crucial spaces where emergent literacy and learning flourish.

This story is a passionate one for me. I see how my blog posts have described my lost feelings, how I have struggled in recent years to maintain equilibrium. In a way this story shows a path to balancing emotions for every age. The message is the need to internalize resiliency on one's own. It is a developmental milestone that not everyone achieves fully. What a huge challenge for young children growing up in the world today.

Now, will an agent and an editor see the story as one that must be published? Will an illustrator see the breaths? Will someone see the story as a place to breathe, to revisit, to share?

A Bit of Gold

A bit of gold caught my attention. How could it be? How could it be the one thing to almost lose a second time?

A Bit of Gold
 2019 Linnea Heaney

About a year and a half before, I had found a small chain on the floor of a closet. It was on my last circle through the empty house, looking for anything missed.

This time, the chain appeared on the floor of a closet--again. But, in my brand-new home, a house halfway across the country, with boxes everywhere, and I spot the same small chain, nestled in the crack of a wood floor.

My breathing stopped. How could . . . coincidence doesn't seem to be the right word. Out of all the thousands of belongings moved time and again over the past months of change and temporary homes . . . how is the same gold chain lying on the floor, forgotten, again?

Reflecting on the journey--the positive, the sadness, the unfortunate, and the overwhelming stress of this relocation, my days felt uneasy. Too many changes and demands eroded my mostly centered life. Writing everyday seemed a distant goal. But, who am I, without writing, without some art? How do I find me?

Placing the gold chain on my bedroom window sill, I ponder the meaning of it resurfacing twice.

Months and months go by as life feels like a flood of challenges that weren't supposed to happen. Three years disappear. Change happens. And everyone is needing to find a way back to a new place.

Is my bit of gold more about finally understanding that every life phase is filled with unexpected events? About finding resiliency, not of moving to the perfect place where all will be wonderful. Months of time ticking by as I find my way over speed bumps with walks into nature, with meditation, with watercolor beginnings, and with new writing friends.

Writing is about finding connections in the pieces of life. Discovering yourself. Seeing stories. The golden glimmer on the window sill reminds me to continue. Holding on to a bit of gold is my reminder to breathe, to be in the moment, to write.