Nettie’s Downfall

Posted on July 20, 2021 by

17 Comments

Image by JamesDeMers from Pixabay

Nettie lives in Bayou Sorrell on the edge of the Atchafalaya Basin. The house is nothing more than a shack put together with a rusted tin roof. In the early years before her daddy took to drinking, he added on a screened porch. Nettie spent most nights sleeping out there listening to the sounds of the bayou.

Everyone is gone now; first her ma died and then her pa drunk himself to death grieving her. Nettie had no one else in the world. Every morning she hopped in her old motorboat and headed to the oysterbeds.

Gliding through the brackish water, she gazes up at the blue sky and sees a great blue heron in flight. Tears spill down her sweaty cheeks.
“Enough! No, I do not weep at the world – I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.”
She jumps into the water.

©2021 Linda Lee Lyberg

dVerse Poets Pub: Prosery Finding Miss Zora Neal Hurston

Author’s Note: Lisa is hosting Prosery and has asked us to use the following line in a fiction piece consisting of 144 words or less. My story is 144 words. Here is the line were were given: No, I do not weep at the world- I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife. –Zora Neale Hurston, from “How Does it Feel to be Colored Me” in World Tomorrow (1928)

Category: Fiction, Flash Fiction, PoetryTags: ,

17 Comments on “Nettie’s Downfall”

  4. Nettie feels like she’s on the cusp of a life-changing moment. Her sighting of the heron at just this moment feels like a symbol of change. Great photo of the heron, Linda. I like where your muse took you with this.

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. “a great blue heron in flight,” is a beautiful and meaningful image! Perhaps all is not lost for Nettie just yet. 💝💝

    Liked by 1 person

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