#50PreciousWords 2020

Last year I entered the #50PreciousWords writing contest for the first time. You can read my blog post about it here. I enjoyed the challenge so much that I entered it again and, this year, my sister is my inspiration.

The purpose of the contest is to write a story for children using 50 words or fewer. It must have a beginning, middle, and an end. It is really challenging to write a complete story with just 50 words! I started out this time with an idea and I wrote, trying to be succinct, until I felt it was complete. That left me with about 90 words. From there, I needed to figure out a way to keep the emotion of the story and still cut 40 words.

Here’s the inspiration for my #50PreciousWords entry this year: I am fortunate to have two wonderful sisters. They are my best friends now. However, when we first welcomed my middle sister into the family, I apparently felt quite differently. As the family legend goes, though I don’t remember it, I looked out the front window as my parents brought my new sister up the porch steps and started saying, “Take her back. Take her back.”

Now that’s awful and I feel badly about it to this day, but I have to remember that I was very little (not even two) and I must’ve been experiencing some strong feelings that I didn’t know how to handle at the time. Gaining a new sibling is a blessing but it can sometimes take time to work through all the feelings involved. In my story, I wanted to honor the feelings of my little self and also honor the love that grows between sisters. So to Karen, my sister, my first friend and my source of immeasurable laughter and happiness – I’m glad our parents didn’t take you back.

NO RETURNS

“Take her back,” Quinn pleads, tears streaming.

She covers her ears. The wailing gets louder.

Mommy hugs Quinn warmly.

“We can’t take her back. She needs us.”

Quinn hesitates, then peeks into the crib.

The baby turns her own teary eyes to Quinn’s.

Both sisters stop crying.

And love begins.