SHADE

by Sharon Stevens

I had a horrific nightmare the other night. The bad guys were after me and I was running and running, slower and slower. Terrified doesn’t begin to describe the feelings gripping my heart and soul. The cracks in the sidewalk disturbed by the roots of ancient trees kept coming up to trip me and slow me down. At first I looked for a place to hide, but nothing provided enough cover to make me invisible. In my dreams I finally gave up and just began looking simply for a place of shade. Maybe if f I could duck under the rustling leaves of a cottonwood, the awning of a small business, or the cool recesses of a front porch, I just might be able to make it for just another moment. And if there happened to be a field of wildflowers I knew I could be home free.

I love to take pictures of flowers, and not just of your manicured garden variety, but any weed will do. My camera will focus at any hour of the day, but what I love the most is to photograph from the backside as the sun’s rays filter through the petals. Time and again I witness as I download the photos is that most of the bugs cling to the underside, taking advantage of the shade. Who would have ever thought that insects needed moments out of the sun? They are only bugs after all.

So many times we face shadow and shade, darkness and peace in not only our lives but our writing. We keep running and running with the bad guys on our tales, petrified that if we don’t finish our story as we outlined it our whole being will be annihilated.

In all actuality all we needed was to find a place of shade. What would it hurt to take a moment to look up and glance at our family pictures sitting on the mantel, or the touches around our writing sanctuary that we chose to give our lives color and warmth? No matter how dark our story, what would we be missing if we dragged ourselves away to center our strength once again, to remind us of those who love us, outside the walls of our dungeons? And where do we live that we can’t take a few heartbeats to go outside and feel the breeze across our face under the shade of a few colorful clouds. And don’t forget about music. Just a few drops of our favorite songs can replenish the spring when our well runs dry.

You get the picture. As writers we so need our moments of shade. We don’t need to be afraid that we can’t get back into the mindset where our story dwells, or petrified that those interludes will lead our fabrication in another direction. We can return to anger, hurt, and decay without worry that the entire message turned to light and joy while we were away. Our original feelings will still be intact. We harbor the center of the story within our center after all. And if we are the writers we have worked so hard to be, taking a few moments of shade will not alter our ego at all.

Now back to the bugs languishing underneath the petals of the flower? Maybe they feel that the sun shining through filters the nightmares away from the hot blistering fire. Also it could be that its just cooler back there.

But maybe, just maybe the nectar is sweeter in the shade.

Sharon Stevens