It’s been a year. She hugs her dog as she cries. Someone sings about sitting on the dock of a bay,
wasting time. How much time was wasted with her mom. A whole year gone now. Sometimes it
feels like yesterday. Sometimes it feels like seven years have passed. But life goes on. It has to.
Dad works his 9-to-5 job at the age of 75. Her brother finds houses to list, even in a troubled
market. Her husband is in another state, teaching others. She needs to get tires for her car. The
eclipse is today. Mom’s still gone.
Laura Shell quit her day job in August of 2023 to become a full-time writer. She has been published in numerous online and print publications. Her anthology of paranormal stories, titled The Canine Collection, was just released. When she isn’t writing and reading short fiction, she jabs snarky remarks at her husband of 35 years.
Backwards Trajectory 