Lightwriting

      This flashfiction story(under 500 words) was supposed to emphasize internal dialogue, if I remember right. From Dr. Mackie's Fiction writing course. 

      They really thought that those pictures were pretty good… 

      Lexy Martin marveled at this while milking the goats a couple days after Thanksgiving. Soda loved them; and Sawyer suggested that she take some photography courses. He meant that in a good way, of course – and the scores from that ACT she’d taken on a whim had come in –

            “Aim high, be accurate, get the point.” The family mantra(related to a shared love of volleyball and ping pong) replayed itself for the millionth time while she walked over to the animal shelter half of the farm. Now to feed the puppies. That Lab needs shots….remind Mom about that. And what about Spree? The brown Nubian was starting to go dry, and her being the top producer. Hard to run a dairy without milk…

             Phone rang as she reached the porch. “Paws-N-Play Animal Shelter and Dairy, how can I help you?...”

She was tying her coppery hair into a ponytail after a shower before the office-work began and people showed up when her mom waved good morning on her way out on a grocery and feed store run.

            “What you got on today’s schedule, Lex?”

            “Photoshoot for some people wanting Christmas cards; fans of Soda’s writing. Need to talk to Sawyer about redoing the website copy, and two families stopping by for shelter visits. Movies with Joseph tomorrow night.”

            “Mmkay,” Autumn nodded. “I can call Sawyer. An’ don’t forget Maddie’s game tonight in Niangua.”

            Of course….and naturally it was a split; since half the family had grown up there and the other half in Somewhere. Lexy made a mental note to wear a Cardinals cap with her Jaguar-blue shirt.

            The events of the day went relatively well – except for the rain shower interrupting the Christmas-card shoot. Those clients proved a little difficult to deal with; but there were a few decent shots, she figured. Three dogs were adopted by the two families; so there was that paperwork to fill out. Another dog was inquired about, likely to be placed in a home next week.

            Maddie pulled down eight rebounds and scored eleven points in the 47-42 Niangua victory, so it was one of those situations where everybody in the family won. Sitting in the familiar wooden bleachers of the rickety old gym, Lexy came to a decision: She was going to give college a try. The familiarity of the NHS gym probably had a lot to do with those last walls of anxiety preventing her from committing to this plan before.

            “But what about the shelter?” she asked once she’d announced these plans.

            “I still have my vet’s license,” Soda pointed out. “Wouldn’t be the end of the world if I moved back for a while to take care of stuff.”

            “We’ll figure that out, Lex,” Autumn calmly answered her fears. “Give it a shot, if you want to.”

            So the next fall, Maddie went to Warrensburg to study biology at Central, and Lexy enrolled at Pitt State as a photojournalism communications major.