Jealousy, Aunt Faye, and The Secret (flash fiction with Sarah) 

(Jealousy showed up at my door again! She is an old friend who embarrasses me, laughs at me, and sometimes full-on humiliates me, but she always brings a gift.

I am thrilled for my friends' successes. I love them, and want them to have every good thing, and yet, sometimes when someone else gets what I would love to have, I feel jealous. I also remember to feel grateful when jealousy shows up with her suitcases in tow. She always points me squarely toward my deepest desires.  

This happened again this week, as two treasured friends got deals to have their novels published. Although I love my book, it is still in pieces in my computer. I have been "working on it" for years, and it feels marathons away from completion.

I made a commitment to myself, and I have been honoring it. I set up detailed parameters for when I will work on the book, and I am determined to finish it. You have read glimpses of it on my blog, in stories with the character Sarah. All of the flash fictions about her stand alone, but she has a bigger story to tell. I am showing up, sitting beside her, and deeply listening...

Where does jealousy point you?)


Aunt Faye and The Secret (A new flash of Sarah's story) 

Sarah put both pillows over her head. She tried not to hear it, but she couldn’t block out the gasping, and the snoring, coming from the bottom bunk. Sarah loved Aunt Faye’s visits, even though they stole her sleep. Faye made her feel safe, and treasured.
 
Whenever Aunt Faye was there, her parents would declare a cease-fire. They would make vanilla French toast, and cinnamon eggs, and they’d listen to Aunt Faye’s stories. Sarah liked to hear the one about the day her mom ditched school to see Frank Sinatra. Sarah wishes she knew that part of her mom. She can’t imagine her as a rule breaker.
 
Sarah threw her Partridge Family pillow, and a blanket, off the side of the top bunk, and climbed down the ladder. She gathered her gear, along with Cleo, whom she had ignored for the better part of 5th grade, and headed to the stairs. She was determined to sleep in peace.
 
As she reached the bottom, she heard her mom on the phone, “No, I haven’t told her yet. I know! Yes, I will. She has been through so much this year. “
 
The last step gave her away. She should have known better. That step always groaned like a reliable old drunk, but she was too interested in the conversation to remember to avoid it. They hadn’t told her what?
 
She heard her mom put down the phone.  “What are you doing down here Sarah? Wow! That is loud tonight… You can sleep with me. It is amazing that one tiny old woman can make that much noise.“
 
Sarah could still hear the gasping and puffing, from the living room, and she knew that her mom’s bed was only separated from the sputtering symphony by a wall. She and Cleo would defect to the sofa.
 
“Mom, what haven’t you told me yet?”
 
“It can wait Sarah. Don’t worry. We’ll talk after Aunt Faye goes home.”
 
But, Sarah didn’t want to wait, and she wanted Aunt Faye there as a witness, and as a comfort. She could always count on her to understand, and to take her side. She decided to bring it up again over breakfast...

(If you scroll through my blog, and read the bits of Sarah's Story, you will find the secret. Aunt Faye just showed up, and she brought this scene with her.)

 

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