#99Word Stories; Shadow Lady

The January 16, 2023 story challenge from Charli Mills at Carrot Ranch is to: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about a lady shadow. Who is this person and why do they lurk in the shadows. What is the tone and setting for your story? Go where the prompt leads!

I didn’t come up with a story for the prompt, no 99-word flash fiction piece. What I have instead is a Double Ennead, the 99-syllable poetry form invented for Carrot Ranch by Colleen Chesebro. There are three 5-lined stanzas, with 5, 6, 11, 5, 6 syllables each. It’s where the prompt led.

The Shadow Lady by D. Avery

I didn’t see her.
Only saw a raven,
black wings whispering over fog filled valleys
through winter gray sky,
lustrous shadow in flight.

Only the raven 
roosting high in the pine
before dropping gracefully down to the snow
to dig for her cache—
she has been here before. 

Creation’s shadow, 
death and resurrection;
guide and messenger, she is light’s reflection.
Or, just a raven,
scratching familiar ground.

Be sure to go to Carrot Ranch to read the complete “Rabbit” collection from last week. And there’s always the Ranch Yarns with Kid and Pal’s responses HERE.