Stories find me. They insist on being told. I listen and write.
I love every one like a child.
I love every one like a child.
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Fiction sample
No Rest (published in Ekphrastic Review, 2022)
by Linda A. Gould Weary from a long day of traveling, and too poor to spend a night at the inn, I spotted a lonely cove that promised a quiet night’s sleep. Blades of grass tickled my ankles as the soft sand, still warm from the blistering heat of the afternoon, massaged the tired muscles in my feet. A gentle breeze that smelled of salt and seaweed seasoned the rice ball that I pulled from my bag. It was all I had left. Tomorrow, I would wake hungry. I would remain hungry. But tonight, I lay in the sand, the cool light of the moon soothing my tired soul, the warmth of the sand absorbing the tension from my shoulders and back. I saw her before I heard her. She glowed in the moonlight. Or rather, the moonlight glowed through her. Emaciated, she glided along the sand that I had just trudged through, grasping at her baby, pressing it against her dry breasts. But there was no movement. It was simply a small lump that had once been hungry, but would never eat again. I realized too late that this woman was not of this world, but was still haunted by such worldly emotions as agony, torment, grief, fear. The agony of starvation. The torment of being too poor to feed her baby. The grief of that child’s death. Fear that nothing would ever change. I know this woman. No, not her name, not her particular situation. But I know her and hundreds like her. Before her, exist the ghosts of millions who died because they were simply too poor to find food to eat. Behind her, millions more will follow. She is me and I am her. Hungry, hopeless, forgotten. Are we destined to endure this misery even in death? I saw her before I heard her. But it is her sobbing that torments me to this day. |
Bibliography
The Diamond Tree: A Dual-language book in English and Japanese "Yuki Onna," Unfeared Podcast, 2023 "No Rest," Ekphrastic Review, 2022 "Fox Hunt," Commuter Lit, 2022 "In the Wake of Dead Soldiers," Backwards Trajectory, 2022 "Living With Kappa," Honeyguide Literary Magazine, Issue 2, 2021 "Eulogy to my Husband," Love Letters To...Anthology, Sweety Cat Press, 2021 "The Lonely Road," The Periodical, Forlorn, Volume 1, Issue 1, .2020 "Satan's Garden," Aofie's Kiss #28, 2009 "Dressing Godzilla," Being a Broad Magazine, December 2007 Featured on the Kaidankai Podcast
"It's Your Turn," 2024
"Fox Hunt," 2024 "Living with Kappa," 2023 "Prome Theus," (Unpleasantville) 2022 "Estana Lokovitch," (Unpleasantville) 2022 "Tessa Lokovitch," (Unpleasantville) 2022 "Wrath of the Faithful," 2022 "The Lonely Road," 2021 "The Sparrow's Inn," 2021 "Setsubun," 2021 "Under the Sea," 2021 |