A Rumor of Coyotes – web home of author Cheryl Unruh
Lessons in Reverse
LESSONS IN REVERSE Sitting in the driver’s seat after she completed the backing test, Donna turned to Mr. B. sitting on the bench seat beside her. “I hate you!” she growled. It’s possible, possibly even probable, that Donna slapped at Mr. B. with both hands,...
A Destination City
A Destination City When I’ve visited Ouray, Colorado, or Taos, New Mexico, or some other touristy town, I’ve taken walks around these towns and I see artsy little houses near the downtown, flower gardens tucked away to the side with stone paths and benches,...
Writing Our Stories Day 21
It’s Day 21 of Writing Our Lives, so today is the final writing prompt in this series. (I’ll do another series in the future, so stay tuned!) Have you followed along? Have you written several pieces along the way? Today, for the final prompt: a friend. Write about a...
Writing Our Lives Day 20
It’s Day 20 of Writing Our Stories Some of you have sent me the stories you’ve been writing and that makes me happy. I love knowing that you are preserving your stories - for yourself, for family, for possible publication. Writing connects us, and I’m delighted that...
Writing Our Stories Day 19
Day 19 Prompt: doing a normal, everyday kind of thing When we think of what to write about, we often think we need to write about the monumental things in our lives, the big, life-changing things that have happened. But you know what? Life is the little moments, too....
Writing Our Stories Day 18
So, here we are. Each of us - in Kansas anyway - waking up inside our own little snow fort. We look out the door and white is all we see. A fresh and deep layer of snow for us, and still coming down. The sound of any moving vehicles is muffled, absorbed by the...
Writing Our Stories Day 17
Hey, how’s the writing going? Are you getting your stories down on paper? Are you finding that once you tap into your memories that they keep flowing? I hope so. For Day 17, the writing prompt is: all the places you’ve lived. For some of you, it may only be one or...
Writing Our Stories Day 16
Day 16 Writing Prompt Yesterday we talked about songs that meant something to us. Today, we’re still on the music topic. Do you play an instrument now? Did your mother make you take piano lessons when you were a youngster? Do you still play? Did you take up an...
Writing Our Stories Day 15
Day 15 already! And so much left to write and say! Could you make a soundtrack of your life? Let’s say you hear a song on the radio from your past and you know exactly where to go. That song puts you at 15. Or 19. Or 27. The same joy or angst you were feeling then,...
Writing Our Stories Day 14
It’s Day 14 of Writing Our Stories. It’s also Kansas Day. On January 29, 1861, Kansas became the 34th state. So, today, the writing prompt is: write about your state. You may live in Connecticut or Wisconsin or Missouri. So your mission is to write about some aspect...
The landscape is one hill folding into another, bodies of hills lying together. There are few trees for shade. We make our own shadows here, unless a cloud runs interference with the sun.
As a hawk glides overhead, we feel the rhythms of land and sky. And somewhere out here, we step into that space between questions and answers, a place where we are satisfied with the unknown.
After darkness comes, the wind settles down, and the Milky Way flings itself across the sky. A rumor of coyotes hangs in the night air.
When the world closes up shop, when the sky turns from blue to black for the very last time, when the last poem is written and read, this is where I want to be – out in my beloved Flint Hills.
– excerpt from “At Home in the Flint Hills,” Waiting on the Sky by Cheryl Unruh ©2013