A Seasonal Jog in Carolina

~ Nortina S.

Just last week, this trail was buried under seven inches of snow. As if August wasn’t two months ago, and Fall was only a distant memory. That’s one thing you’ve got to love about living in the Piedmont area of North Carolina. You can experience all four seasons in one week. Tomorrow, it’s forecast to get up to 80 degrees. Our poor trees will be so confused. They’ll think they’ve shed their leaves too soon.

I jog in place to read the sign post. The Nathanael Greene memorial is just ahead. Usually that signifies I’ve run a mile, but since Guilford Courthouse National Military Park was closed all last week—we tend to shut down everything even at the sight of a flurry—I decide to run another lap. That dusting they’re calling for next Tuesday may turn into a blizzard. Of course, anything here is considered a blizzard.

We Carolina folks just ain’t used to all this snow.

word count: 159

—Nortina

Looking at this week’s photo, I wanted to focus more so on setting than developing an actual story. I hope that’s alright.

This is part of Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers, where you write a story in 100-150 (give or take 25) using the provided photo prompt. Click the froggy icon to read other stories and add your own.  

wpid-photo-20150302183203503

17 thoughts on “A Seasonal Jog in Carolina”

  1. I thought that was a fun take on the prompt and turning it into an exercise in exploring setting. I think you did a good job of giving us the thoughts on the person who lives in that area and how their perception is different than someone would view the place if they lived anywhere else in the US. If you wanted to really delve into the setting further, I would’ve loved some deeper descriptions of the trees, what the buildings looked like, how the air smelled, etc. Good job.

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  4. You certainly had enough of a story to give interest and action to your piece, Nortina. And I can identify with the fickle weather – including the confused trees – as I live in the UK. Nicely done. 🙂

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  6. Do you jog? Kudos to you if u do I hate running. And the snow is not so bad. You come visit us in Western Canada and would get use to a lot of snow fast. Good story

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  7. I enjoyed your take on the prompt. Love this line: “Our poor trees will be so confused.” And maybe it’s not a character-focused story, but you brought it round in the end when you mentioned the snow again, so it feels like a complete piece to me.

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      1. I think it did, too. Flash fiction really is the form to go for if you want to experiment a bit. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, you’ve not lost too much time writing it 🙂

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  10. I love your take to the prompt! I also like how you wove the sign into your story. Great job Nortina! Was this prompt difficult to write about? Also, did my calculations for the time the Link opened accurate? (I’m not use to using military hours and I need to know for future reference).

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