Sunday, July 21, 2013

#8Sunday #SnipSunday: Love Letters



Love letters is the second story in my short story trilogy, The Lilac Hour, which released just this week.
Here are the opening lines:


We buried Mama under the big oak next to Papa just as the lilacs came into bloom. It was  fitting, Mama being laid to rest at his side in the time of lilacs. I was so full of missing her that I felt my heart would splinter into a thousand tiny pieces, but I found comfort in the thought of  them together up there in the shade of those old trees, overlooking the bay. It tempered my grief ever so slightly, like a feather come to lodge in a dark place.
For the longest time, I would think it was her each time the kitchen door opened. I could see her carrying a bunch of lilacs. “Oh, that sweet smell,” she would say, “If only they could bottle it.” Or I would open the cupboard and expect to find all the cups right-side up, a habit of  hers that fretted me to no end.







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For more about the Lilac Hour, click HERE

13 comments:

  1. Oh, Ute, so powerful! I love the smell of lilacs in bloom too. No manufactured scent comes close. You done a great job of capturing the sorrow in the scene and bottling it all up for her.

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    1. Thanks Maggie! The stories are all a bit bitter sweet.

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  2. Bittersweet excerpt today but lovely and full of grace.

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  3. I absolutely adore your author voice...and anyone who's lost someone can totally relate. Beautiful!

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  4. Definitely raises the emotions in the reader. We can identify with the MC - sadness, pain, and indeed memories summoned by the scene of lilac. Very nicely done.

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    1. Thanks Susan. I was aiming for some nostalgia with these stories.

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  5. It's so sad and sweet. A wonderful emotional scene with great description.
    ~Skye

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