So thankful for these lovely paintings by Leslie Anderson and to Shanti Arts Publishing and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance for putting together the contest that’s inspiring this week of shorties. It’s nice to have a ready-made week of prompts in a totally exhausting month. I’ve noticed that I’m writing particularly short stories in response to these paintings. Is that because I’m so worn out? I don’t think so because writing short is about developing a vision appropriate to that length, not about less energy. Is there something about responding to these particular paintings that make the stories so short? Am I *gasp* actually learning how to “think”—and therefore consistently write—short? Time will tell. The day’s shorty is a response to Anderson’s Last Night at the Lake.
Working Title: Nothing Funny
1st Sentence: If we hadn’t been laughing when she came back to her deck chair, the night would have taken a whole different direction.
Favorite Sentence: The sun would have finished its melt into the lake, the stars would have glittered the sky, and we would have waxed nostalgic and gentle for another half-hour, then pushed ourselves inside to refill our whiskey glasses and settle into a game of cards.
Word Length: 485
Photo of a sunset over Maine’s Moosehead Lake by Lee Coursey 7/2008.
Daily Shorty 
Leave a Reply