Triptych: Jeweled Bones, Right Panel: Jewels Under Glass–Flash Fiction in Three parts by Janet Grace Riehl

This flash fiction of 3 parts, or panels, was originally published in The Portland Review. I’m posting it on Riehlife in three parts. “Triptych: Jeweled Bones” links to an on-going theme of how the land nurtures us as writers and creative people. Arletta Dawdy found inspiration in this piece and I’ll be posting her story-poem later in the week, when “Triptych” has been fully viewed.–JGR

Right Panel: Jewels Under Glass

In my play yard I dug bits of dirt away from the mole hole. Down the tunnel I saw a nest. Gray balls of wet fur with pink fleshy bits at the end curled inside. At the bottom of the nest, I thought I saw pebbles.

But, held against sunlight, pebbles became jeweled bones waiting for me under the grass. As I turned them in my hands, sharp shards dug welts into my tender palms. I cupped my hands to make a miniature cave. The bones shone through my fingers when I peeked.