Creative Nonfiction
A Spring Storm
Penny Nolte
issue three
The squall was predicted, so I had already stacked the plastic Adirondack chairs inside. Snow was a surprise, though, coming a day after rolling that heavy old BBQ grill down from the small shed. With every bump amplified by arthritis.
An announcer on the windowsill radio says, “It’s the anniversary of the total eclipse,” and I shake my head. It wasn’t warm then, either. But not twenty degrees and blowing a gale.
I wonder how my crocuses are weathering this as I step out into a crunchy, wind-blown drift. Resident squirrels have no such concern, snuggling together for a little nap down deep in their burrows or high up in their nests.
A nap sounds good to me. While I can’t quite walk away from the fantastic scene of foamy whitecaps racing to shore, with layers of ice forming on the neighbor’s dock.
Through the gusting snow a rusty red car turns in and parks. The window rolls down and then I hear, “Don’t mind me, I used to live over there.”
I recognize her, “Paula, is that you?” A girlhood hero, ten years my senior. She always carried an extra fishing rod and let me use her worms. I’m thrilled, and stepping forward I tell her so, “It’s good to see you!”
“Well, I can’t stay, I stop in sometimes to see the old place. Maybe I’ll sell it someday.” Paula restarts her car and lets out the clutch.
“Safe travels,” I whisper, feeling a chill between my shoulders as she disappears back into the storm. She sold her place fifty years ago.
About the Author
Penny Nolte is an author, artist, and educator creating gentle narratives of family and place. After a decades-long break from storytelling, her new work is beginning to appear in literary magazines including Beach Chair Press, The Avalon Literary Review, Beneath the Mask, and Dorothy Parker’s Ashes. Penny grew up on the shores of Lake Ontario, and now lives in Vermont.
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