Verna K Gunderson
Bio
I'm an ESL online Teacher whose life and stories thrive on the creative imaginations of life and children. A picture painted or a story written are both built with the brushes that hold the many colors picked up throughout our lives. Bravo!
Stories (20)
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Seasons of Rain
Before the seasons of rain came, I never contemplated me or who I was. I was just me. I was me before him or them, all of them, all seven of them. I was me before the gray hair hid that woman who I had been, the girl I knew that was still buried deep inside. I lost that confused and hungry child along with the business of life’s journey. The shell grew old, and it became quiet, but the kernel never aged, nor could I hear her cry, if she ever did, for the cries of the youth who had replaced her in the emptied space, were like the oceans rolling in and out, always loud, always pulling or pushing.
By Verna K Gunderson4 years ago in Humans
Who said?
Every gem is rough before it is polished, but it is not worthless because it is unpolished. Likewise, Silver retains value even under its tarnish and so does the silver-haired rancher who can truly say, "I'm not dead yet!" Somewhere in America the elderly are aging with questions of ‘what happened to my worth, my value. I’ve done so much for you, my state and the world just by doing my job of caring for animals that depended on me to fatten them up for the harvest.’ Who can imagine the long days, the heartbroken nights of losing stock for the cold or the storm or the stillborn?
By Verna K Gunderson4 years ago in Humans
Vocal gives
Vocal gives an outlet for stories that should perhaps remain untold because people who are supposed to care don’t want to be bothered by the trivial matters of your mundane life or the shared memories that bore them. While that is too often a harsh reality, I remember a time when my children wanted to hear every detail I had to share. I remember a time when they would run to the door screaming, “Daddy! Daddy!” because their father had arrived.
By Verna K Gunderson4 years ago in Families
Unleashed Challenge
Valentine’s day is a wonderful day to be born, unless you are a puppy who needed a blood transfusion for a heartworm invasion. I do not know how Chip got his name, but he was a full-blooded Collie with a big heart. He was very much of a protector just like Lassie from when I was a child. Even still he was a bit ‘nibbly’ when he wanted full attention. He was like that mother in Church whose children misbehaved, and the look did not quell the wiggles. He had a pinch that would garner all the focus. It did not leave a mark and it did not break the skin, but it sure smarted.
By Verna K Gunderson4 years ago in Families
Estranged
The unnamed stranger sat on the side of the road staring out towards the ocean. The wide river that separated the cities was not to be compromised either. It did not argue with invasion of visitors. It did not stomp to a halt because of inconvenience. Time simply passed everyone on by as seasons changed. On that day, the miniature icebergs were back as they had been every year for centuries. No one knew where they had been nor where they were going. Cars were driven by drivers who never gazed long enough to discern whether it was even a man or a woman who sat within their sight. They simply passed the person oblivious to any care or concern. But the stranger had a story to tell if anyone cared to listen.
By Verna K Gunderson4 years ago in Fiction
Rough Cut
It was a suspicious package wrapped in brown paper screaming to be opened, until I saw the address. Simply put, it was the final chapter that I knew would arrive one day and this was apparently that one day. I had been waiting for years to read it. But now that it was here, did I really want to open it? That question would become a see-saw of emotions. While it had been placed into the mailbox just in time for a break, I would be leaving a necessary task for the dreaded task of opening that box. I know that prying into the box would conclude the story written long before I was born.
By Verna K Gunderson4 years ago in Fiction
