Photo by Lynda Lehmann
visit Lynda's website to see more of her
photography and art - lyndalehmann.com
and she is a part of - World Wide Women Artists
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Suggested prompt...
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visit Lynda's website to see more of her
photography and art - lyndalehmann.com
and she is a part of - World Wide Women Artists
~
Suggested prompt...
~
Include a watch in your writing today.
_____________
Old watches hold entire lives within their tarnished gold casings. Days and days...both good and bad have been lived by the ticking of time.
The old watch was first held nervously when it slowly ticked towards the time to meet Erica's dad for the first time. That same watch guided me through the waiting room until I heard my daughters voice for the first time...the sound a of new baby gasping for the that first breath of air in this world. I looked at that watch marking a time of change in my life when Erica died. The last time I saw the watch, I put it in an envelope in my desk drawer that said "To Faith", knowing that I would not be returning to that desk again.
Faith, I'm not with you now but I'm s glad you found the watch. Use it to mark your time on this earth and use every minute it ticks off to move forward. Don't let the watch rule you, use it to track your paths towards your destiny.
~ Dan Felstead
******
She remembered her grandfather taking the watch out of his pocket. It was strange seeing a watch on a chain in a pocket and not on a wrist. Why was her grandfather so different than other men? Why did he cherish that odd thing so much? As a little girl, she felt embarrassed by it. Why did he have to tell time that way? And why did he always polish it with that cloth before he slipped it back into his pocket?
Now, at the age of 36, sitting in her grandpa's house going through his things, she sees that watch. It's secured in a worn, velvet-lined box. She picks it up and sees for the first time that it's engraved on the back: SDH 1890. She does the math and realizes it was her great-grandfather's watch, and the date marks his 18th year.
She then sees the tiny slip of paper where the watch had been: For Faith.
A tear falls down her cheek as she picks up that same old cloth and gently polishes the beautiful watch she cherishes so much.
~ Faith
I really enjoyed this unexpected exchange. Dan your prequel to Faith's writing was wonderful... both of you wrote so well today. ~ Laura Jayne
One week after the photo or picture is posted I will pick one offering to put beneath the image. This is a way of celebrating exceptional creativity. Any and all posts are available for your creative mind to make an offering at any time (even ones where a writing has been placed on the front page like this one). If you are new here and want to offer to every image here, feel free. We are writers, WRITE! If this is your exceptional writing posted here on the Front Page Pictures, Poetry & Prose invites you to include the Exceptional Writing Award Button on your blog. Visit the Exceptional Writing Award post for the details and the button to download.
8 comments:
She remembered her grandfather taking the watch out of his pocket. It was strange seeing a watch on a chain in a pocket and not on a wrist. Why was her grandfather so different than other men? Why did he cherish that odd thing so much? As a little girl, she felt embarrassed by it. Why did he have to tell time that way? And why did he always polish it with that cloth before he slipped it back into his pocket?
Now, at the age of 36, sitting in her grandpa's house going through his things, she sees that watch. It's secured in a worn, velvet-lined box. She picks it up and sees for the first time that it's engraved on the back: SDH 1890. She does the math and realizes it was her great-grandfather's watch, and the date marks his 18th year.
She then sees the tiny slip of paper where the watch had been: For Faith.
A tear falls down her cheek as she picks up that same old cloth and gently polishes the beautiful watch she cherishes so much.
Old watches hold entire lives within their tarnished gold casings. Days and days...both good and bad have been lived by the ticking of time.
The old watch was first held nervously when it slowly ticked towards the time to meet Erica's dad for the first time. That same watch guided me through the waiting room until I heard my daughters voice for the first time...the sound a of new baby gasping for the that first breath of air in this world. I looked at that watch marking a time of change in my life when Erica died. The last time I saw the watch, I put it in an envelope in my desk drawer that said "To Faith", knowing that I would not be returning to that desk again.
Faith, I'm not with you now but I'm s glad you found the watch. Use it to mark your time on this earth and use every minute it ticks off to move forward. Don't let the watch rule you, use it to track your paths towards your destiny.
Faith's description of the watch was so moving...I had to write the prequel.
Dan
This is a such a great inspirational blog. :)
Please check out my blog at http://www.successdemandsaction.com
Would you like to exchange links?
I wanted to let you know I just noticed you left a comment a while back...thank you for this site, I plan on using it as much as I can...I run an Open Mic for poets, writers, and acoustic musicians in NJ and will spread the word about this!
Dad's watch
Seeing his watch slide
down my father's forearm
fading into death
will plague my memory
and pain my heart.
Pushing my mind awake
watching those happier days
of a dad setting his watch
to launch a family trip
will always soothe my soul.
The businessman
In his worn brown leather coat
And his bowler hat
Glances down at his watch
His wife gave him for Christmas
The train is late again
The young'ns keep saying
These new contraptions
Will make everything faster
Young fools always think they're right!
The soldier
Long gone to war
Returning home
To his sweetheart at last
He glances at his watch
He said he'd be home by five
And, sure enough, she's waiting
On that front porch
With her worn blue apron
Sally tugging at its strings
And little Jimmy
Perched on one hip
The little victory garden pushing up young green shoots
Oh, how it's good to be home!
The young man
In his black business suit
Headed to New York
To his dream job
He glances down at the pocketwatch
That his grandfather gave his father
And was passed down many times before that
He has kept it around
As a reminder of times gone by,
Lives lived before his
Thinking about them, he realizes how young twenty-five is
His flight is late
He almost laughs, thinking of his great, great,
However many times great grandfather
The stories passed down say
He thought just the same thing
A link to the past gives him hope for the future
"Watch."
"Mommy, watch."
I was sitting at my computer, catching up on writing and creating and the emails.
"Watch, Mommy, Watch."
I kept hearing his little voice over and over, but I needed to finish up this last little thing that I was doing.
Done. I pushed the chair in and asked my little boy, "Okay, honey, what do you want mommy to watch?".
When I turned to see him, he was standing there with something shiny in his hand. "What do you have there, honey?" I asked him.
"Watch, Mommy."
I went over to him and saw that he had found my Grandfather's watch. The one that I thought I'd lost over ten years ago. "Where did you find this, honey?" I asked him.
He grabbed my finger and pulled me to the television; pointing at it. "You found the watch in there?" That's impossible, I thought to myself. How could he have found the watch inside the television? And then I saw how.
My little boy (not quite yet three) found a screwdriver and every so neatly, turned each screw on one panel of this television. I turned in amazement, looking at his face. He was beaming with pride.
Now I wonder how on earth the watch got into the television, in the first place. Ten years ago, I didn't even have any children.
I swept my little boy in my arms and kissed him from head to toe, treasuring the moment.
~ yes, it's fictional :o)
The watch is ticking down the time
I wonder when it will stop this time
The older I get the more I value
time well spent
with family and loved ones
The watch keeps ticking
tick tock tick tock
I can't give notice to when it might stop
Joy is what I have enscribed on my time piece that does not leave my side
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