Sheri Yutzy - Speculative Fiction Author

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WHAT LIES BENEATH – #flashfictionmagic

January 25, 2023 by Sheri

WHAT LIES BENEATH – #flashfictionmagic

It was one of those houses that looks…stiff. New and expensive, like no one lived or loved in it yet.
Margery wondered what the owners—who never seemed to be there—would think if she knocked on the door and offered to ruffle their house up a a bit. It was ridiculous, of course, but every morning she looked to see if anything had changed. Had the blinds been opened, or at least left a teensy bit crooked?
Had a gangly weed sprouted between the hard nosed boxwoods?
A year ago the For Sale sign had disappeared and she’d spotted a sleek silver car pulling into the garage. After that, the silver car came and went sporadically. Gardeners came and tended the boxwoods. The house kept its eyes closed.
It drove Margery crazier every day. She watched the door obsessively. Surely a cleaning lady would come and Margery could ask her a few neighborly questions? She hadn’t seen the silver car glide down the street in days.
Then it happened.
A single weed erupted right by the front porch step. It seemed to grow overnight, encouraged by early spring rains, until it towered as tall as the porch furniture.
Mesmerized, Margery wafted across the street in the chill, misty afternoon. Everything was tight shut as always, the garage, the windows. She gathered her grit and rang the doorbell. Nothing.
She moved to the back fence, the eerie fog prickling through her sweater arms. Stretching to her tiptoes, she meant to take a short peek and then dash back across the street. But she found herself surveying the shallow, muddy backyard, her gaze drawn to the thick woods bordering it.
Her fingers convulsed on the wood and a soundless scream shook her throat. A body lay at the edge of the trees, its skin drained white and its eyes staring dead at her.

#spookystory #flashfiction #whatliesbeneath #murderstory #sheriyutzy #amwritingflashfiction #flashfictionfriday #freestory #yafantasyauthor #amwritingfiction

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About Sheri

Here Goes Something New!

Hi, I'm Sheri Yutzy. I love forests under the night sky, trying new foods, and drinking Irish tea. I've been to 17 countries, and once spent the night in a hotel lobby in Florence, Italy, because the entire city was fully booked for a festival.
I'm married to a musician who looks good in black, mama to three curious kids, and happy resident of a Cape Cod cottage in Ohio.
I write YA fantasy and am acquisitions editor at sparkflashfiction.com.
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sheriyutzyauthor

I am still alive here, just living the garden life I am still alive here, just living the garden life.🌿
I came down with social fatigue last weekend (that’s what I’m calling it) and the remedy seems to be gardening.
It was lovely to come home from my trip and find a raised bed full of spinach and radishes (and some other things I don’t recognize). Today I planted tomatoes.
I’ll return to my regular posting when my well is full. 
🌿I hope you all have a lovely week!🌿

#raisedbedgarden #socialfatigue #sheriyutzy #smallspacegardening #slowlife #theslowlife #slowliving #intentionallife #livingoutdoors #gardeningtherapy
Recommend a book! When I first read this little b Recommend a book!

When I first read this little book soon after I was married, I was thoroughly startled.
It’s that kind of book.
I’ve never read a book that made me more thrilled about getting older. More hopeful about finding simplicity.
I reread it every time I go through a life change or feel off kilter and out of harmony with myself.
Each chapter holds deep insight about finding focus, relaxing into relationships, resting in the ebb and flow of life.
She shows so clearly that it’s not necessary to leave everything behind to find simplicity. It is possible to let simplicity come and go and let its effects remain, even with households to run, children to care for, or jobs to manage.
Hopeful possibility is the phrase that lingers in my mind.

Now it’s your turn. What inspiring book do you recommend I read next?

#giftsfromthesea #annemorrowlindbergh #findingsimplicity #findingthesimplelife #sheriyutzy #classicbooks #smallinspiringbooks #slowlife #theslowlife #thesimplelife #findingfocus #lovingmiddleage
Thinking back on the beautiful white daffodils of Thinking back on the beautiful white daffodils of early spring…
The colors of the earth deepen and grow more vibrant as time goes on, until they rest again beneath the stark white and black of winter.

What’s your favorite season? I really can’t choose.🌿

#springdaffodils #changingseasons #slowliving #slowingdown #cottagegardens #intentionallifestyle #homemakerlife #sheriyutzy #moodycottage #slowlifestyle #ordinarymagic #everydaymagic
🌿 I’ve been told many times To be afraid for 🌿
I’ve been told many times
To be afraid for my children
That I will regret not holding them tighter.
It’s as if fear is a currency, and if I don’t have enough, I haven’t earned motherhood.
I will never accept this,
for Jesus has taken my fear.
He is enough.
🌿

“Fear not.”
-Jesus.
I spent the evening following these two along the river bank, finding all the ant hills and burrows and mushrooms. No wonder Jesus cares for these, I thought. They are the best at finding all the magical good in the world.

#fearnot #courageousparenting #saynotofear #sheriyutzy #intentionalmotherhood #intentionalliving #slowliving #fearlessliving #fearlessparenting #kidsoutside #riverbank #twentywordtuesday #shortpoem #poetsofinstagram
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