Category Archives: Short Stories

The Last Question, by Radiance Angelina Petro

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The Last Question
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

 

 

Once I met a ghost full of questions. We walked for hours, losing track of time. I answered their questions as best I could, but they didn’t seem interested in my answers, which were mostly guesses anyway. They just kept asking question after question. I tried asking them one every now and then, but I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Here are the questions they asked. I wrote them down for you. I remember all of them except one. The last one.

Have you ever flipped a knife to see if it would land
with the blade stuck in the grass?
Have you ever found an old well and looked down
only to find it filled with dirt?
Do you believe you’ve done anything
meritorious? That’s a word I learned when I got here.
What do you think the first question in the world was?
Someone here says they know but they won’t tell me.
Everything’s instantaneous isn’t it?
Have you ever pulled a sword from a scabbard
and yelled: “Charge!”?
I carried a secret goodness to the other side.
I still have it in my pocket. Can you guess what it is?
I met a guy here named Buddha. He asked me a question.
Want to know what it was?
If you ever came across a rope dangling all the way from heaven
what would you do? I found one once and gave it a tug
and ended up pulling the whole rope down.
I didn’t know what to do after that so I looked around for a second
and then kept walking, pretending nothing happened, although
I had the feeling I should be running, and I’m pretty sure
I heard a crow telling me to.
Are my questions bugging you?
There’s lots of gods here dressed in feathers. Why do you think that is?
How old do you think I am?
Want to know how I died?
Have you ever seen someone walk into the woods and suddenly
stoop down on all fours, grow hooves and paws or something,
and just keep going? I see that all the time now.
Are you sure my questions aren’t bothering you?
Anyway, I only have one more and then I have to go.
Want to guess what my last question is? It’s the question we all have to answer
before we get here.

And that’s the question I don’t remember. I think it was something about who do I believe myself to be, but I’m not sure. Do you have any idea what their last question could have been? Why do you think it needs to get answered before I die? Do you think that means I’m going to die soon? What if I die soon? What if I die soon and haven’t answered the question? Will you hold my hand and wait with me while I’m trying to remember the last question?

 

 

 

 

One Way to Prepare, by Jennifer Angelina Petro

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One Way to Prepare

By

Jennifer Angelina Petro

 

 

Exhale: Release and create,

Inhale:  Gather and nourish,

Exhale: Loosen and share,

Inhale:  Draw and replenish,

Exhale: Surrender and sigh,

Inhale:  Unite and receive,

Exhale: Express and give,

Inhale:  Assemble and hold,

Exhale: Relinquish and set free,

Inhale:  Store and treasure,

Exhale: Cast and measure out,

Inhale:  Claim and protect,

Exhale: Bestow and rejoice,

Inhale:  Shore up and fortify,

Exhale: I am awake and ready.

 

 

 


 

All donations go to medical expenses and groceries.  Thank you for your support. <3

 

Dream, by Jennifer Angelina Petro

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Dream

by

Jennifer Angelina Petro

 

pool

No One was there when I opened the door after being awoken by a frantic knocking.  I stood there, afraid, and yet, by some miracle, invited No One in.  I cleared off a chair and invited No One to sit down.  I asked if they needed a drink of water.  They nodded yes.  I turned to get some water and No One started weeping.  I stopped, knelt at No One’s side, and took their hand.  No One wept like a torrent of rain.  They collapsed off the chair and into my arms.  They started to try to speak through the sobs.  I couldn’t understand what they were saying.  I caught pieces of words and phrases:  Lonely, please, it’s chasing me, afraid, tired.  I rocked No One in my arms and they wept for a long time.  In fact, Time stepped aside and let us be together for as long as No One needed.  I was grateful for Time for letting go of control and allowing No One’s pain to be witnessed in the kind of timelessness they reserve for dreams.

No One gradually wept into a deep sleep.  I stayed there, holding them in my arms on the floor.  My legs started tingling and falling asleep.  I got up slowly and lifted No One into bed.  I stroked their hair and pulled the blanket up over their deeply breathing body.  I sat down in the chair and wondered why No One had come to me.  Who, or what was chasing them?  What could I do to help?  And with those thoughts drifting through my heart like wisps of mist, I too fell into a deep sleep.

Inside (or outside?) my dream, No One had risen from the bed and stood radiant and strong, alive. I watched in awe as No One began to change their form.  Their body shifted and fluttered, lighting up like a million fireflies, taking on other shapes and forms, until, at last, No One had transformed into Everyone, and it was then I understood why they had come.  But then, Everyone too began changing shape.  Their illumination settled a bit, and their form, a moment ago like a sun that somehow fit into the space of my apartment, began to shrink in size.  As Everyone continued to distill in form and intensity, their light became focused and channeled to a specific spot in the room.  It was then I understood why Everyone had changed.  They had changed, wonder of wonders, into myself.  And yet somehow, Everyone was still there.  We were one being, one light, one heart.  And No One suddenly flickered into the room, never to be alone again. And I let myself, wonder of wonders, be embraced by Everyone, as they rocked me in their arms, for I had collapsed from the chair weeping like the rain.


 


All donations go to groceries, medical bills, and medicine. <3

Thank you. <3

Nursing the Dark, Eating the Light, a Fable, by Radiance Angelina Petro

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Nursing the Dark, Eating the Light

A Fable

by

Radiance Angelina Petro

 

 

One day, an acorn and a cicada nymph were talking underground, when a beam of light suddenly appeared shining down on the acorn.

“What is that?” asked the acorn.

“It’s light,” said the cicada.

“Why is it tugging at me?”

“That’s what light does.”

“What if I don’t want to move?”

“Dunno,” said the cicada, “I’ve been under here for 17 years. I like the dark.”

“I haven’t been under here for nearly as long,” said the acorn, “but it sure is comfortable.”

“And cool,” said the cicada, “and snug, and yeah, so cool—wonderfully cool.”

“What do I do?” asked the acorn.

“About what?”

“The pull.  I mean, my heart feels like it’s breaking, and something inside wants out.”

“Go with it,” said the cicada. “So part of you moves into the light? Your roots will always be in darkness.”

“And what about you?”

“Me?” Said the cicada, “Well, when the light draws me out, and I climb a tree and wait for my wings to spill out, then my roots will be in the sky.”

“Should I try to fight the light?” asked the acorn.

“Good luck,” said the cicada. “Funny thing is, once during late summer, you fell to the ground and the darkness pulled you under and you loved it. You didn’t resist. You couldn’t resist. I heard you sinking down. You were weeping and laughing all at the same time because it was so nourishing and safe-feeling to be under here. Now you want to fight the light. Try this, just try breathing in the light, and see what happens.”

The acorn did as the cicada suggested and she suddenly felt the light breathing her and she found herself unfurling into the bright, blue sky, and the light–she was eating the light.

“There ya go,” said the cicada.

“Aren’t you coming?” asked the acorn as she turned away.

“When I have suckled the roots of the mother tree long enough,” said the cicada, “then I will come. For now I am still nursing the dark.”

 

 

 


 

 

 


As of the posting of this story, I am still unemployed and without an income.  Please help if you can.  All my love, Radiance

The Moment, a Short Story Told in Poetry and Prose, by Radiance Angelina Petro

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The Moment

A Short Story Told in Poetry and Prose

By

Radiance Angelina Petro

 

 

I.

Yesterday a moment passed me by at the flea market.

She moved through the bangles, baubles, silks, bric-a-brac, knives, and rings.

I saw her and she me.  In fact she turned to look at me full in the face,

And I know she was just about to tell me that every wonderful thing

Anyone has ever said about me is true—that I am a powerful force for good in this world.

We looked at each other as people passed by eating funnel cakes, ignoring us.

And just as I moved towards to her to ask her for a single, simple embrace,

She suddenly began to pull away—as if reeled backwards by some cruel fisherman,

And as she vanished, and as I began to push through people to chase after her,

She called out–I swear I heard her call out over the sounds of the many angry voices:

“Remember,” she called, “remember just how important you are.  It’s all true.”

And at the last second, as I nearly caught her to pull her off whatever terrible hook that was in her,

She stretched out her hand, and I fell forwards trying to grasp it, missing it by inches.

Then she was gone–swallowed up into nothing, never to be seen again.

 

II.

As I sat down right there, with people having to suddenly navigate a person sitting in the middle of the floor, I began to weep.  After a few minutes, out of nowhere, a little girl, holding her mother’s hand, stopped and said to her mother, “Mommy look, someone is sitting on the floor crying.”

“Ignore her,” her mother said trying to pull her along, but the girl stood stock still, forcing her mother to stop.  And then, the little girl let go of her mother’s hand, and leaned in close to me and said, “Lady, what’s the matter?  Why are you crying?”

I looked up at her. Her face was full and wise, and powdered with sugar from eating some treat—probably a funnel cake, I thought.  And then I said: “Sweet one, I almost touched a moment I’ve always wanted to touch—or that I’ve always wanted to have touch me.  She was just here, little girl, and we got close—so close, but then she got dragged away and disappeared, and I am afraid I will never find her ever again, nor she me. That, little sweet one, is why I am sitting here in the middle of the floor crying, like a baby.”

“Oh,” said the girl.

“Come ON,” said the mother, reaching down trying to grab her by the arm.

“In a minute,” she said, shrugging her mother away.

“It’s OK,” I said to her, you can go with your mother.  I’ll be alright.”

“What did she look like?” she asked.

“Oh,” I said, “she was beautiful.  More beautiful than anyone or anything I have ever seen.”

“What was she wearing?”

“Oh,” I said, “she was wearing this flowing shift of white light that made her look like she was wearing heaven.”

“I see,” she said, and then stood up, for she had sat down across from me on the floor to conduct her little interview, much to her mother’s displeasure.

“Well,” she said, reaching up for her mother’s hand, “I hope you find her again.”

“Thank you,” I laughed, “you’re very kind.”

“Let’s go,” said her mother, and then to me, “Get up lady.  Look around you.  Do you see anyone else sitting around crying in the middle of the floor because they missed their moment?  Get up. You’re in the way.”

And as they walked into the crowd, I looked after them and, to my amazement they were both wearing flowing shifts of white light that made them look like they were wearing heaven.  How had I not noticed that before? I wondered.  And as I stood, I staggered, and saw everyone was wearing flowing shifts of white light, and as I braced myself against my fears, I righted my back, stood tall, and began walking again full of wonder, my own shift of white light trailing behind me, like the train of a bridal gown.  It was everything I could do to refrain my hands from touching every face I saw.  It was everything I could to not ask each and every person if I could hug them.  It was everything I could do not to sing. And then, as I continued moving through the sea of white light, there, right next to me, holding my hand, was my moment.  She was laughing, beckoning me to look around us, and as I did, I laughed too, and knew in my heart that everything wonderful anyone ever said about me was true.

 

 


 

 

Please help support my continuing transition.  All my love. Radiance. <3