50 Word Non-Fiction: Hope – Batch 1

Every week, we publish the latest 50 Word Non-Fiction stories of Hope. Read this week's pieces below!

*

The storm I face will blow over. The moon is dimly lit, allowing shadows to dance with me in the dark. My mind races towards home; my eyes give in, my body shuts down. Loud noises like a siren whisper in my ear, I cling to a thread called hope.

*

It was just to the end of the parallel bars, not far.

Put one foot in front of the other.

But something was wrong, I was so slow.

Eventually, overcome by emotion I got to the end.

That was a sign that I could do more, there was always hope!

*

I ran to the Highlands’ beauty when my sorrow told me to,

When weight of obligation’s pain was all I ever knew.

I dance in the Highlands’ beauty with a fire born inside,

My heart belongs forever ‘neath the endless open skies.

*

Forward looking, plans and dreams to be fulfilled. Unscheduled adventures, romantic gestures and with unbridled faith in the future, we edge towards the unknown in a parallel world and with peripheral vision we plot a new found course of certainty. We link arms nod our heads and step out in tandem.

*

Blow out the candle with an incantation. Make that wish on an eyelash. Lie flat on your back, wrapped in a blanket, and gaze into the night’s ink. Once in a while, a meteor will strike the sky like a match.

*

Two grandsons in a world of fragile peace. Today I watch them. One digs deep in garden mud constructing roads and bridges. The other, on wobbly legs, examines books pulled from the shelf. I hope my boys will never be forced to use weapons to destroy homes, lives and innocence.

*

My mother wasn’t Catholic. Her polite response to the “wee Kirk men” at our door reminding of communion next Sunday, hid her despair. I was surprised when she told me she had gone to chapel. A candle lit for astronauts trying to get back home. Hopeful prayer for unlucky thirteen.

*

Is there any hope. We watch the world to find it. Faces of children. In abundance of love. Given with much hope. Tears shed for many now. Yearning to break free. From the tyranny of phones. Social media. To know how to live in the knowledge the world gives. Help us.

*

We agonised over the carefully pitched offer. Now we wait, we fidget, we squirm. Hoping for success we prepare for rejection. We will not be able to settle until we know.

A phone rings. Heart beats are missed. The conversation is swift.

'YEESSS!’ she shrieks. 'We're moving in June.'

*

The Piece Table

Go on, a few minutes.

Ok, just 5 minutes.

Wander into the back of the library.

The table where a jigsaw is always tipped out.

Will anyone have done a bit?

Will someone have broken it up….

…why do they do that?

Ah, a good day!