My father’s hardness ran so deep that anything tender in him was trapped like a bug in amber. Certain angles you might see it, but kindness and compassion were dead relics buried inside him.
This no doubt served him in his role as constable, but didn’t make him shucks as a father to three motherless girls.
As the middle girl there was nothing to distinguish me.
I had neither Dora’s cunning nor Clara’s charm, and like my father’s kind heart was trapped betwixt and between.
My two sisters each carried in them a strain of that same hardness.
“My father’s hardness ran so deep that anything tender in him was trapped like a bug in amber.” is absolutely brilliant!
I love the bug in amber line too!
Very clever take on the prompt, nice voice.
A kind of a story that resonates deep within. Beautiful writing.
Brilliant writing here. Really felt for her.
My wife was the middle child, but in her case, she was promoted to first child after the older two moved out, having to then take care of the youngest two.
Dear J Hardy,
I find it interesting that you wrote from a feminine POV and did it well, I might add. Love the bug in amber. Good story all around.
Shalom,
Rochelle
I join the chorus about the bug in amber line. Brilliant story, there is a lot not said that tells much. She has the kind heart and may be able to break free.
A fine piece of writing, which came across as so real. Loved what you did.
Oh, I love this! Feels like the opening to something big, some great, epic tale about a life in a shifting world. You’ve summed up those characters so beautifully too – dad with his softness hidden away, she being the middle one, and we all have preconceptions about middle ones, the sisters being hard so I assume your MC feels isolated, the odd one out. More please
It makes one wonder what sort of world feeds such hardness into an entire family…
Sad to be so hard as an adult, but sadder still to be hard at a young age.
Beautifully written.
Oh I felt her pain. Beautifully written and very moving.
The double theme of trapped works wonderfully here, and brings home the emotions of the narrator, poor girl.
I too liked the bug in amber line. Also, James, the masterly feminine MC POV that you created. Good writing skills, as usual.
The bug in amber line is absolutely perfect. I know everyone else has said it but I had to as well.
So glad this is fiction, although for some it is probably reality.
Heart-wrenching story.
Oh oh oh! The pains of being the middle child! Your whole piece is picture of reality, from the title to the end!