Flash Fiction Magic: March 3 & March 10 "Story in Verse" and "The Scent of _ Brings Me Back"

This flash fiction piece is based on two prompts from Emily Barnett, on Instagram @embarnettauthor.

The scent of all this brings me back...

To Folgers coffee-stained green ceramic mugs

Dawn dish soap, dunking our hands in scalding suds

Well water flowing into the bathtub and

Jergens cherry blossom lotion

Polyester floral blouses that sway on metal hangers

Red bound book of medicine next to stained witness pamphlets

Fiery red cedar wood bed frame, table and drawers

Coppery water in plastic cups

Damp basement stairs down to summer's canned harvest

The good leftovers, bones, go to Babe the stray farm mutt

Strawberry jam, beans and ham, bread and butter pickles

Don't stir them oats! You'll ruin 'em!

Daffodils arriving early behind the old garage

Packed dirt floor and chipped wood of an empty horse barn

Gnarled old pear tree with fruit hard as rocks

Vines, no grapes

Exhaust from haulers on highway one - Caution! Speeders!

Diesel smoke from tractors, balers, sprayers, combines, and seeders

Fresh hay - mowed, grass, corn and grain

Clinton's foxes and dogs

Sweet honeysuckle masks the stench of burning trash

Earthy wet clay beneath a leather Olds dash

Mis soaked morning in the Shawnee hills

Dusty carpet on days inside

The scent of all this brings me back

To Norris City

The House on the hill

Grandma, Baby Doll

And my childhood, too