A very short story (89 words if anybody’s interested) in response to Sacha Black’s writing challenge. I admit it took me rather more than 60 seconds. It took me 60 seconds to clear my desktop and open a new word doc and another 60 secs thinking about what came after the first three words.Ā Ah well, rules are made to be broken, shouts the anarchist in me.
The apple dropped. We didnāt hear the whoosh as it fell, just the thud as it hit the ground and rolled into the long grass. It was a beauty, green streaked with russet. And it had only one wormhole. Baby picked it up and gazed at it in awe.
āRound,ā she said.
We beamed. Such a bright child.
She toddled to the path, apple clutched in chubby hand, and slung it to the ground.
She looked up at us, eyes full of reproach and shook her head.
āDoesnāt bounce.ā
Jane Dougherty Writes 
Reblogged this on Arran Q Henderson and commented:
Lovely, deft piece of 3 minute micro-writing by my esteemed French comrade Jane Dougherty.
How prolific you have been these past days! I feel my energy draining…glad to come over here and catch up/fill up with your words.
I feel like a gargoyle on a rainy day š
Ha! š
Brilliant!
Something I remember the eldest doing when she first met a windfall apple š
Cute! š
Our children have been the most unconnected with nature you can imagine.
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Lol! Nope they’re all like that at that age. I didn’t appreciate it either until I got older.
I suppose. Maybe I was just weird, but I know Iād have been able to tell a fox from a ferret when I was five, whereas mine didnāt even recognize the names of animals, never mind know what they looked like.
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Really! That’s impressive. Did your family wheel you out at parties for entertainment? Lol! But your love of nature is definitely strong and evident in everything you write. I’m crap at recognising plants and trees. Just starting to learn really. Every plant I you choose dies. So I think it’s best to leave well alone and admire the weeds instead. Which thrive. š
I admit it, I was a bit freakish about animals and nature. The other day I was dog walking with another dog walker and I stopped to listen to a robin singing. My friend wanted to know what was up so I told him. He said, āCan you really tell thatās a robin?ā I think I lost a friend that day. Most people give head cases a wide berth š
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That’s a shame! That’s one of the things I can’t work out, which bird I can hear is singing. Shame other people can’t appreciate that skill in you. I’d love to know. Amazes me that people aren’t curious about such things. Maybe they don’t even hear it.
I donāt think they do notice. No doubt they notice lots of things that I miss š
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I dont think you miss ANYTHING!
I wish!
Awww. š I love this!
Thanks Ćilis š
Wonderful post. The logic of children is magical.
Thank you! We hear a lot about children’s magical imagination, but they also have a very firm grasp on reality!
This was so so so adorable. The chubby hands – the innocence. How amazing that you captured so much. I saw the whole thing play out in pictures. LOVED it. ā¤
Thanks Sacha! It’s my reward for having had such adorable children š