Thursday, October 6, 2011

Write On Edge Setting Challenge

So I stumbled across this from an announcement on Twitter. In 200 words, for Red Writing Hood asked for writers to paint a setting as vividly as possible.

This place is drawn loosely from my own memory files. I remember the raw emotion overcoming my entire family as we happened across this very unexpected find.


  It is a crisp Tuesday afternoon. Autumn colors draw me from my home in solitary pilgrimage. Cold, grey clouds clot the sky like eiderdown and play peek-a-boo with the waning sun. The Appalachian earth not yet thawed, crunches like corn chips beneath my feet. The perfectly manicured grass is shock green between seas of fathomless, motionless white markers, the callous account of freedom's ransom. Row after row of these sentinels stand vigilant for those they serve. The loss is immeasurable and washes through me as a torrent. I turn my collar against the contesting breeze laden with the scent of cedar and wild columbine and listen as the song birds hush their melodies in reverence. The valley that once harbored war against brothers now cradles her victims in sheltering arms hidden among the golden ash and rowan, far from the view of the bustling highway. I stand rooted, absorbing the voiceless whispers from forgotten ghosts. The rest, the rest is silence, Hamlet would say. I turn from the dead to take the long walk home, my steps heavy. I am weary and changed like the season, preparing for winter’s slumber and the promise of peace.

7 comments:

  1. I love this description. Great unusual comparisons as well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. Welcome to Red Writing Hood. If this is your first time, I sure it's not your last. This was powerful. Your descriptions of the setting were wonderful. I loved this line,"The Appalachian earth not yet thawed, crunches like corn chips beneath my feet." Corn chips are such a great sensory use to make me hear that sound.

    I felt like I took this walk through the cemetery with you and that means you did a very job with describing the setting:~)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a wonderfully descriptive piece. I love to walk the dogs in our old cemetery.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This was beautiful and haunting. Glad you linked up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rich vocabulary and vivid descriptions ! Really awesome writing !

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you all, for all the kind words. Your feedback is very, very appreciated.

    Shelton K Dunning

    ReplyDelete