A Coffee Mug Story™

The Little Things…

The woman looked at the clock before checking her list again—so much to do. As she passed by the kitchen window, a flash of colour caught her eye. Stopping, she braced her hands on the counter and leaned forward to watch her kids in the backyard.

Patches of grass stood out where the children had rolled large balls of snow. Their creation—a crooked, precariously balanced snowman. The woman’s youngest boy reached up to place a carrot in the face of their masterpiece and overcompensated. He fell forward, crashing into the snowman, toppling it to the ground.

The woman waited for the sound of crying, as the children stared at the crumbled mess. She watched, ready to console, when they threw their heads back and roared with laughter.

With a small smile on her face, she turned back to her list. Her in-laws were coming for New Year’s and there were sheets to change and a bathroom to clean, plus dusting, tidying, and cooking. So much to do.

In the back bedroom, as she held the clean sheets, children’s laughter reached her again. Looking outside, she saw a new snowman taking shape. She looked at the sheets in her hands and then back to the window.

Tossing the sheets in a heap on the bed, she rushed past the counter and her list fluttered to the floor. But she didn’t stop. After she shoved on her snow boots and grabbed her coat, she headed outside to build a snowman.

CoffeeMugStories™

Along with writing novels, I write flash fiction…
Each story is exactly 250 words and I call them Coffee Mug Stories™
because they’re small enough to fit on the side of your mug of coffee (or tea),
and short enough to read while you take your first few sips in the morning.
They’re unedited, little thoughts, just to make you smile.