The Abstract Art Gallery
A writing gallery created by writers from around the world. From poetry to song lyrics, from essays to entire novels and short stories.
A brief essay on the loss of my best friend. Inspired by the prompt, "Time of Death".
————
…part of her died the day she was diagnosed. Pancreatic Cancer. She once told me she would have taken any other Cancer: breast, liver, colon, stomach. The survival rate for Pancreatic Cancer is 9%. I was convinced that my best friend, Sonya, would be one of those 9%. Sonya was one of those people…
By Christine Obst
Read MoreMusings on the death of my father
————
…rang the front doorbell for the third time and followed it by banging on the edge of the security door. Her client was deaf but usually, after the second ring, she would hear him shuffling to answer the door. The house was as secure as Fort Knox. There were deadlocks on both doors and all the windows. Security doors…
By Alexandra de Fircks
Read MoreSo, I am 72 years old. Early this morning I had a chance to talk to my Future. It was one of those casual, chance encounters and my Future grabbed a chair and sat down before me. “You know,” it said, “at 72 you have certainly gathered a lot of memories and experiences. So, you probably wouldn’t be bothered too much if I told you that you only had 8 more years of your life. I mean, lots of people die long before even…
By James Geehring
Read MoreOur past failures were paving the road to our future success. Redemption takes place when we can embrace all of our experiences, and love ourselves completely despite our past failures.
————
…is something that I have often been challenged with. That is, the idea that failing is part of success. My perfectionist brain wants to tell me that if I am to be a success in this world I must be a success all…
By John C. Davis
Read More…enormous, at least two-metre thick, concrete double door slides open, and a dark and cool throat of the mountain is almost sucking me in. My jaw has dropped. No…I’m not reading you an excerpt from some horror or thriller novel, and my name is not James Bond.
I’m standing on the doorstep of the once top-secret facility on the Black Sea coast and now the Naval Museum Complex Balaklava on the south-east of Crimean peninsula, just a stone-throw away from the city of…
By L. Salt
Read MoreThe road to success is long. Is it fraught with setbacks and failures. When we honor this process we will be better able to get back in the game. We can start over any time we choose.
————
…is a part of my mind that tells me that I should be able to achieve great results just by some sheer act of will power on my part. This idea of getting into the trenches and doing…
By John C. Davis
Urge to Rome
————
…stood in the kitchen with the five other mothers of the settima classe—the seventh grade. Curious to visit an Italian home since our arrival in Rome, here I finally was, one of le ragazze, the girls. There was nothing exotic about the room: modern counters, appliances, wall phone with an extra-long cord. A window looked onto a back yard where a yapping collie blend wrestled with a pink rubber ball. I could have been in New York. Ohio. Anywhere in America. Only the clouds of cigarette smoke, the undecipherable staccato banter and the Moka pot on…
By Kyra Robinov
It can be challenging in today's busy world to stay focused. Keep doing your art regardless of how challenging it is.
————
…many of us can relate to being distracted? How can we not? Every five seconds there is another notification on our smart phones. And, life just being what it is will always be presenting us with another situation to deal with. It's…
By John C. Davis
Regretting our past leads to frustration. When we can forgive ourselves for our past behavior, we will begin to heal. We were doing the best we could in the moment. It is time for us to heal.
————
…is my birthday. It's not a milestone birthday, but it still counts. As for all of us, birthdays present an opportunity to look at our lives, and see how we are doing. It also provides an opportunity for healing.
Yes, the birthday is just another day. Nothing really happens differently on my birthday than it does on any other day. I wake up…
By John Davis
Sometimes looking back to the past can give you insights into the present.
————
…time of year always seems to turn me inward. The gray skies, cooler temperatures, and often-inclement weather feed my need to hibernate, and the warmth and coziness I find indoors lend itself to sitting with my mind and turning its eye to the past.
Earlier this year, I made the difficult decision to end a career that had seen me through nine years of momentous life changes. It was a career I loved but I was no longer in love with it. It was a career that…
By Kate Williams
