Friday Flash Fiction
  • Home
    • Opportunities at FFF
    • About Friday Flash Fiction
    • Terms & Conditions
  • 100-Word Stories
  • Longer Stories
  • Poetry
  • Authors
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E-F
    • G-I
    • J-L
    • M-O
    • P-R
    • S-V
    • W-Z
  • Submissions
    • 100-Word Submissions
    • 500-Word Submissions
    • Short Poetry Submissions
    • Writing Good Flash Fiction >
      • How to complete the Entry Form
    • Appeals/Feedback Request
    • Contact FFF
    • Technical Stuff >
      • Terms & Conditions
      • GDPR Compliance
      • Duotrope
    • Support FFF

The Clothesline, by Kim Favors

27/11/2020

 
Feisty was the one thing about Jenna that almost everyone agreed on.

From her teens when she first met Tom at a dance, to their life in the same rural Oregon town, Jenna was known for being stubborn.

Even with children and grandkids, the word “no” was often her response to anything new. Including “no” to selling and moving.

“You could visit your grandchildren without that drive,” her daughter suggested. “No! I’m staying put,” Jenna replied.

Her most puzzling rejection was the “yes” to a new washing machine but “no” to a clothes dryer. Even the grandkids couldn’t persuade her.

“Grandma, you could stop hanging laundry. Your back wouldn’t hurt.”

“No!” she said.

Laundry days came with a ritual. Jenna would tie back her long greying hair and don comfy clothes. She’d hang the wash, get a book and coffee, and settle into a couch on the porch.

For hours.

During summer, Tom might find her still outside upon returning from his plumbing-electrical store.

And when autumn’s chill descended early, she sometimes left the laundry out overnight.

She would shoo away offers of help, saying only, “This is my Heaven on Earth. Leave me be.”

It would become her standard response through all the seasons.

Then came the late-summer evening Jenna’s Heaven and Earth collided: Tom found her unconscious on the outdoor couch.

The Portland hospital doctors were baffled by her coma.

Tom eventually left her bedside. “She would want me to check the house.”

The first thing he saw was the now dusty laundry, still hanging.

Tom eased himself onto the outdoor couch and began his to-do list. Sleep overcame him.

He awakened to crickets and frogs announcing nightfall. As evening’s shade drew over the yard, breezes sent the laundry swirling. Jasmine hinted of romance.

That night Tom dreamed of his and Jenna’s first dance — and kiss.

The next day, it was the birds’ early morning chorus serenading the sun that sent him outdoors. Wobbling atop the clothesline were two orioles. Smiling at their antics, Tom found the couch and relaxed. The laundry could wait.

A midday shower lined wires with raindrops, which danced off in a seemingly choreographed ballet. A visual meditation.

Tom was beginning to understand why Jenna so cherished her wash days.

And what he needed to do.

Three days later, the laundry still hanging, Tom returned to the hospital.

With a cushion from her couch, he propped up Jenna’s head, placing a laptop beside her.

“The clothesline. It’s waiting for you,” he whispered, starting a video and boosting the volume.

Crickets and frogs, birds, raindrops and breezes, towels dancing — it was as if the clothesline and yard were alive in Jenna’s hospital room.

“Mr. Stoddard,” Tom shook his head but the nurse’s voice persisted. “We need to move your wife. You can finish showing her the video after.”

There was a sudden twitch. Had Jenna responded?

Then from her lips came the most joyous sound Tom had ever heard.

“No!"
Jim link
27/11/2020 03:44:51 pm

I really enjoyed this, Kim. Nice little story and very well written.
And cute ending!
Jim

Mary Wallace
27/11/2020 04:10:19 pm

Kim, this was lovely. A beautiful piece.

Sue Clayton
29/11/2020 01:57:18 am

Was the word No ever more welcome and I too love to watch laundry dancing on the line.

Susan F. Reid
29/11/2020 11:14:31 am

What a heartwarming story.

Kim
30/11/2020 07:39:28 pm

Thank you all for reading and enjoying.

phyllis souza
30/11/2020 11:10:01 pm

Oh, the sweet smell of freshly washed laundry hanging outside on a clothes line. Not even a fabric softener can replace it. Enjoyed the story.


Comments are closed.

    Longer
    Stories

    Longer Friday Flash Fiction Stories

    Friday Flash Fiction is primarily a site for stories of 100 words or fewer, and our authors are expected to take on that challenge if they possibly can. Most stories of under 150 words can be trimmed and we do not accept submissions of 101-150 words.


    However, in response to demand, the FFF team constructed this forum for significantly longer stories of 151-500 words. Please send submissions for these using the Submissions Page.

    Stories to the 500 word thread will be posted as soon as we can mange.


    Picture
    Please feel free to comment (nicely!) on any stories – writers appreciate it.
    Just at the moment, though, we're moderating some of them so there might be a slight delat before they appear
    .

    One little further note. Posting and publishing 500-word stories takes a little time if they need to be formatted, too.
    ​Please note that we tend to post longer flash fiction exactly as we find it – wrong spacing, everything.

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014

Picture
Website by Platform 36