Flora Fiction

07/20/2025

The cat arrived at approximately 5:07 that Tuesday evening. Stalks of wheat, normally static or singing softly in the breeze, parted and revealed two green, dinnerplate-sized eyes. The aging farmer leaned forward in his rocking chair. The gnarled wood pressed against his iron hands. The farmer had never seen bears come through his field so directly. Bears came and went in these parts, but never caused trouble....

The cat arrived at approximately 5:07 that Tuesday evening. Stalks of wheat, normally static or singing softly in the breeze, parted and revealed two green, dinnerplate-sized eyes. The aging farmer leaned forward in his rocking chair. The gnarled wood pressed against his iron hands. The farmer had n...

07/17/2025

When Sheila Worth came to work that Monday morning wearing a corrugated cardboard box and little else, it brought barely a hint of the commotion to come. We were, after all, inside a Burlington, WI, Packaging Corporation of America plant, where hulking machines crank out thousands of boxes daily. We PCAers likely dream of boxes, I know I do, and some workers now and then do get goofy with them: eat lunch inside a big one, wear a smaller one as a helmet, draw their dog Jojo’s face on one and pretend it’s him....

When Sheila Worth came to work that Monday morning wearing a corrugated cardboard box and little else, it brought barely a hint of the commotion to come. We were, after all, inside a Burlington, WI, Packaging Corporation of America plant, where hulking machines crank out thousands of boxes daily. We...

07/13/2025

Banished revolving doors. where do I comewhere shall I go. uncertainty, fearunending chaos. where do I comewhere shall I go. stillness and shadowsfoot in or foot out. where do I comewhere shall I go. continuous concealdispirited, quiet. where do I comewhere shall I go. forgotten and loneforever surrounded. where do I come…...

Banished revolving doors. where do I comewhere shall I go. uncertainty, fearunending chaos. where do I comewhere shall I go. stillness and shadowsfoot in or foot out. where do I comewhere shall I go. continuous concealdispirited, quiet. where do I comewhere shall I go. forgotten and loneforever surr...

07/12/2025

Let's take a walk, you and I, and leave everything else behind except for the words on this page;we'll only be a minute. What can I offer in such little time?A healthy break from mindless swipes.At the very least we'll delightin each other's rapt attention. By looking up we'll also connectwith the attention spans we possess…...

https://florafiction.com/iso-your-blue-spot-by-martin-indars/

Let’s take a walk, you and I, and leave everything else behind except for the words on this page;we’ll only be a minute. What can I offer in such little time?A healthy break from mindless swipes.At the very least we’ll delightin each other’s rapt attention. By looking up we’ll also connect...

07/06/2025

“On behalf of the management and staff of the Lookout Lounge high atop the Grand Dame hotel of the beautiful ‘City by the Bay,’ we welcome you to our New Year Celebration welcoming in 1942. “We’re joined by the Xavier Cugat Orchestra whose musicians of magic are finely tuning their instruments in anticipation of the new year. “As we celebrate, let us not forget our courageous soldiers and sailors fighting for freedom throughout the world....

“On behalf of the management and staff of the Lookout Lounge high atop the Grand Dame hotel of the beautiful ‘City by the Bay,’ we welcome you to our New Year Celebration welcoming in 1942.             “We’re joined by the Xavier Cugat Orchestra whose musicians of magic are fine...

06/29/2025

In the middle of an empty road, Maria lay panting in a pool of her own blood. She held her eyes tightly shut, as if that might quiet the pain in her left side. The pavement was rough on her palms; her jeans were torn and her knees scabbed. The car hadn’t stopped; why hadn’t it stopped? And why had she frozen, letting the blinding white headlights get closer and closer until they swallowed her up?...

In the middle of an empty road, Maria lay panting in a pool of her own blood. She held her eyes tightly shut, as if that might quiet the pain in her left side. The pavement was rough on her palms; her jeans were torn and her knees scabbed. The car hadn’t stopped; why […]

06/22/2025

Star-beaded sky,Thy mystery is profound—Thou art the keeper of nature’s restless heart, A symphony of secrets, so maverick.Where dost thou hide The mirth of the dawn?Art thou the handiwork of fairies, Spun from the spirits' realm?Thou stealth my sleep,Casting shadows upon my “spiritual delight,” Weaving stillness into my celestial being.Why dost thou conspire with the fairies…...

Star-beaded sky,Thy mystery is profound—Thou art the keeper of nature’s restless heart, A symphony of secrets, so maverick.Where dost thou hide The mirth of the dawn?Art thou the handiwork of fairies, Spun from the spirits’ realm?Thou stealth my sleep,Casting shadows upon my “spiritual delig...

06/15/2025

Alicia hadn’t thought about his watch until she called the hospice nurse to confirm that he was gone. She’d long planned to slip his wedding ring off, curious if the engraving – Ted and Alicia, October 14, 1960 – might still be legible. She’d peeked at her own, but the years had eroded the words. It had been a long vigil: She’d arranged a chair beside the bed so she could rest a hand on his chest, sure she would feel the labored breathing stop even if she dozed off....

Alicia hadn’t thought about his watch until she called the hospice nurse to confirm that he was gone. She’d long planned to slip his wedding ring off, curious if the engraving – Ted and Alicia, October 14, 1960 – might still be legible. She’d peeked at her own, but the years had eroded the...

06/08/2025

Lorraine. Lorry had to crawl the way they do in the army, to get through the hole in the inner chain-link fence. Her growing belly made her thicker. A fragile cushion she needed to protect. She whispered a thanks to Marcus, who must have cut through it last night, just the way he said he would. No option to climb it with those spirals of razor wire....

Lorraine. Lorry had to crawl the way they do in the army, to get through the hole in the inner chain-link fence. Her growing belly made her thicker. A fragile cushion she needed to protect. She whispered a thanks to Marcus, who must have cut through it last night, just the way he said […]

06/01/2025

There lies, below the peaks of the grand escape—the greenest mountains among the gloomy world that dominates the skies—a strange sort of hum, a voice. She sings a long melody of battle and blood, of love and life, loneliness. ‘’What is this voice?’’ they ask. ‘’Where has it grown and dwelled so long?’’ Long before the fields she says.When the wild and cold…...

There lies, below the peaks of the grand escape—the greenest mountains among the gloomy world that dominates the skies—a strange sort of hum, a voice. She sings a long melody of battle and blood, of love and life, loneliness. ‘’What is this voice?’’ they ask. ‘’Where has it grown and...

05/25/2025

My fantasy is whathelps me escape from the world. The sliver of magicI imagine in the dark, Tiny bits of reverieto fill my aching heart, Wisps of hope I feelwhen I am gazing at the stars. My fantasy,keeping me from shattering apart. But my fantasy isn’t real,it’s made up in my head Fueled by all the tricks and lies…...

My fantasy is whathelps me escape from the world. The sliver of magicI imagine in the dark, Tiny bits of reverieto fill my aching heart, Wisps of hope I feelwhen I am gazing at the stars. My fantasy,keeping me from shattering apart. But my fantasy isn’t real,it’s made up in my head Fueled by all...

05/22/2025

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