True stories in 100 words

[irina]

HIDDEN JOY
by Brianna Blanchard, Springfield, Massachusetts
Coming from a destitute family, my brother and I were used to having very slim Christmases. We expected nothing more one Christmas morning, as we scooped wrapping paper from the floor. "Grab the blanket hanging over there and wrap it around your mother when she comes in here and tell her how much you love her," my father whispered deviously. Grabbing the blanket and pouncing on our mother, we noticed two upright guitars that the blanket had been draped across. Those guitars became the sole form of expression all throughout our growing-up years—and up to this day.

HER FAVORITE CAROL
by Andrew Caruso II, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Ruth was in the end stage of Alzheimer's disease. She could no longer move nor speak, but she had always loved to sing, her husband said. At the facility's Christmas party, we sang our favorite carols. When we got to "Silent Night," Ruth squeezed my hand, smiled, and then began to sing. She sang every word clearly in a beautiful alto voice. When the song finished, she grew silent again, but the smile never left her face. These moments are the reason I go to work every day.

AT WAR ON CHRISTMAS
by Jim Griffin, Chickamauga, Georgia
Christmas Day, 1969, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division. On a hill somewhere around Hue, the supply chopper comes in, usually loaded with mail, C rations, ammo, and sometimes clean clothes. What is this? An ammo canister full of beef stew. We have no utensils to serve the stew, so the platoon leader uses his hand as we go through the line. When he finishes, he has stew up to his elbow! What a pleasant surprise that leaves a lasting memory.
Taken from Reader's Digest

[irina]

LAST, BEST VISIT
by Diane Rhodes, San Jacinto, California
Our relationship lasted just five years. He was a gentle, caring man who put me at ease when I was stressed and made me laugh when times were tough. He was the kind of person you want around all the time, yet I will not miss him. In fact, our last day together was one of the happiest days of my life; a cause for celebration. I smiled as I hugged my oncologist goodbye after five years of being cancer-free.

A SCARLET SYMBOL
by Priscilla Hartling, West Allis, Wisconsin
My mother was my best friend. She loved cardinals, the male red ones. When she got sick with pancreatic cancer and knew death was near, she told me to always look for the red cardinal—that would be her. I never paid too much attention to that statement; I was too busy becoming an adult. Twenty-five years later, every time I feel at my wits' end, there is a cardinal flying past me or in a nearby tree. Is it coincidence, or my mother, all these years later, letting me know that everything will be OK? I'll take the latter.

Source is Reader's Digest

[Afroza Akhter Tina]

Great and interesting stories ma'am  :)

[Shampa Iftakhar]

Dear Irina mam:

Wonderful collection of stories!! Love reading them!! It is really difficult to finish a story within 100 words. How can they write?

[Shampa Iftakhar]

Dera madam:

I reread some of the stories and have found them very silly.Hhahahah :) :)

Have you read the short story" Pathok er Jonmo"?

[irina]

Dear Shampa
No, I didn't read that. Did I post anything silly?
Help me out.

[nujhat.eng]

thanks mam, its really wonderful and very new to me.

[A.S. Rafi]

thanks for sharing!

[Tahsina]

I didn't find any story silly, i guess Shampa used that adjective for the story she mentioned.
I loved LAST, BEST VISIT! That story is witty!
I also noticed something. Christmas triggers lot of passion/emotion/feelings in the lives of those people...

[Afroza Akhter Tina]

A Scarlet Symbol from Reader's Digest is the most interesting to me!  :)




Afroza Akhter Tina
Senior Lecturer
Department of English, DIU

[Subrata.eng]

wonderful ...