I merely copied Poe.
When I buried my heart in the floorboards.
The lady in question was a cat. Patches. She was my childhood sweetheart if I ever had one. She used to lay in my arms on her back and let me pet her belly.
I found her when I was feeding the cows. Stiff as a board, in between some rock hard bales of hay, frozen to death. Her hair bristled at Jack Frost, or so I imagined.
In my upstairs bedroom, a piece of the floor had worn away, and left a six-inch gap in the floorboards. That’s where I put her. I wanted her close to me while I slept.
It was a boneheaded choice, even for a nine-year-old. You can imagine what happened in a few days. It’s pretty warm in the space between floors, apparently.
I didn’t have to give myself up, like the guy in “The Tell-Tale Heart” did.
Patches gave herself up.
I snapped Poe’s photo with my phone and applied some filters using the ToolWiz photo app. Pretty amazing what you can create in a just few minutes these days.
In case anyone wonders...
...the freewrite above is a yarn!
The real Patches lived a long and happy life. I was sad when she ‘went away,’ but luckily that's how it happened: one day she just didn't show up in the barnyard anymore. I was spared the shock of finding her body.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Our cover photo today was taken in February 2019. It’s a view from my favorite spot along the Hoquiam River.
It rarely snows here on the coast in Washington, but when it does, it’s lovely.