It was a giveaway, when I saw from under the bed, a toe poking out of a sock.

Little Sean, had run away from home. He was five years old. His father had punished him for leaving the door of the chicken coop open.

The weather was fierce, the rain came down in sheets. The temperature dipped toward the freezing mark. Where could he run and not freeze to death?

Police gathered on the family farm, along with neighbors. The search would be organized. In the meantime mom was frantic. She had pains in her chest, shortness of breath…tears. She slumped to the floor. Next thing my mother was being resuscitated.

Watching, I stood frozen. Then as she came to, I screamed. “Sean is ok! I found him under my bed with our dog Duke. He’s ok mom, he’s ok”!

Now, years later I am a mother of a five-year-old. I look back on that day when my brother disappeared and shudder. Sean was gone a relatively short time, but it’s a lifetime for a mother.

By Carol Camilla Taylor

*****

Setting: Aisle in a local home store
Characters: Cal and Jeff, local old-timers

Cal speaking in a hushed voice:
“I have never seen the likes of this.”

Shakes his head and chuckles
“Why, down-home we would never go out with such. It is just scandalous.”

Jeff using a loud deep voice:
“This is a different time and place. It isn’t that these folks don’t give a damn. They have a different kettle of fish to fry. Feeding nine mouths takes all their time and cash. Even the extra odd jobs don’t add up to enough.”

Cal
But they could take care of what they have. A toe poking out of a sock? Really? You’ve heard of “a stitch in time”? Next thing you know the whole sock will be just a rag. Why, in my day Ma would mend our clothes, even our socks.

Jeff
Ya, when did we start throwing away instead of fixing things?

Cal
Maybe the young in’s would like to learn some of the old skills. We sure could teach them a thing or two. Wanna give it a try?”

Dr. J. Mowczko

Our writing prompt responses are always a revelation and we welcome any replies. This week’s prompt was a first and it was all the result of the word SCENE. One can interpret  that in many ways. One member gave us a scene from a screenplay.