Five Minute Friday: Steady

Writing for five unedited minutes on the prompt “Steady” for Five Minute Friday.

After school in my childhood, my sister and I stayed with the “S” family after school. My sister and the youngest boy of the family loved to play in the open field behind the house, while I usually stayed inside and read books. But they begged me to come play with them. The problem was, I had to climb over a gate to get to the field.

The gate was locked by the field’s owner, so we couldn’t swing it open. If you wanted to cross, you had to climb over. And I couldn’t do it.

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Portrait of a Thirsty Woman

Portrait of a Thirsty Woman: A fictional retelling of the Samaritan woman in John 4

Time to gather water again, she sighed to herself. She thought the years would have toughened her, strengthened her. But water gathering days made her soul feel weary.

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She was tired of putting defenses up, day after day. Defenses against being a Samaritan, who the Jews despised. Against being barren, which stripped her self-worth. Against being unmarried yet living with her lover. She was an outcast, even among her own people. And she felt weary from the constant fight to prove her value.

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