Give and Take
Short fiction
Alexander dug into the earth. He was crying.
After he lowered Bandit, his faithful Rottweiler of twelve years into the ground, he glanced at the mound of soil beside him.
Three arrowheads – with perfect shape and symmetry – stared out at him.
Alexander picked them up delicately and held them in his palm, tracing their jagged edges with his index finger.
His dread had been replaced with a sense of wonder. He thought about how many hundreds of years these objects, these artifacts, had been lost to man. Why, now, did they reveal themselves? Why at this moment, when his eyes and ears and heart should be devoted to laying his friend to rest?
“It’s all give and take, push and pull, son.” He heard his father’s voice in his mind. “It’s all a balancing act, this world – this life. Better to get on with it…accept it. Cause that’s just the way it works.”
Alexander pocketed the arrowheads. Maybe one day he would untangle the questions he had associated with them. Or maybe in a week from now, or two months, or three years, he’d look at them on his kitchen windowsill and think of Bandit.
Alexander picked up the shovel, said a final goodbye, and then dug back into the mound of soil.
Thank you so much for reading “Give and Take” — I hope you enjoyed it.
Fifties by the Fire
Next Friday, September 30th, we will have our first fifty-word writing challenge. The prompt: write a fifty-word story that uses the word “season” or “seasons”. For an extra challenge, begin or end your story with the prompt word. Here are the other guidelines:
Make sure your piece is exactly fifty words. Feel free to use Word Counter or whatever word processor you use.
Write a title with the genre in the first line. (Example: Saving Spellbound, Fiction)
The title does not factor into the word count.
It’s been a long wait, but I’m excited to see what everyone comes up with! Look for the thread around 7:00 AM EST next week, and please feel free to share and post your story!
Have a great weekend, and thanks again for reading my work.
Nicely done, Justin. That is life.
Good story, Justin, really tugs at the heart. He's lost Bandit, and had lost his dad. So much for him to ponder as he looks at those arrowheads!
(And, our Best. Dog. Ever. died of old age in 2020. Still miss her.)