Sheri Yutzy - Speculative Fiction Author

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You are here: Home / All Posts / GRAVEYARD KEEPER – #flashfictionmagic

GRAVEYARD KEEPER – #flashfictionmagic

December 8, 2021 by Sheri

#flashfictionmagic Graveyard KeeperLou slammed her knuckles against the glass door once more, hoping that this time a light would come on inside. The small engine shop lived up to its name—it looked the size of her storage shed.
“Need something?”
Lou spun. A boy stood off to the right, keys dangling from his hand. The street lamp behind him amplified the gathering dusk, and she squinted.
“You just look like you—you know—need something.”
“Canyoufixalawnmower?” Hope jumbled her words.
He stepped out of the lamp’s glare and raised a brow. “That’s my job. But we’re closed for the night. Hence the locked door.”
“Oh no. I need it fixed now. Trust me.”
He smiled and wrinkled his forehead at the same time. “Some kind of lawn emergency? At dusk?”
“I do graveyard maintenance.” She took a deep breath when he didn’t look impressed. “My graveyard is special. I have to mow it every day before dark, or…”
“Or what?” He tilted his head.
“Let me show you.” To her utter relief, he climbed in the passenger side of her red pickup. She could feel him staring at her the five long minutes it took to race back to graveyard.
When they jerked to a halt beside the forlorn lawnmower at the far end of the graveyard, she tumbled out and and tried to start the mower one more time. The thick unmowed grass encompassed two rows of the oldest stones.
“Why don’t you mow more often?” he muttered.
She glared at him. “I mow every night. I told you, this graveyard is special. Can you fix it?” She gestured to the mower.
He crossed his arms. “Not until you tell me why you’re so worried.”
Lou signed. So much for keeping a lifelong secret. She stabbed a finger at the unmowed section of gravestones. “I’m cursed, all right? If I don’t mow it all Every. Single. Night. The bodies come out. So unless you want to help me pull the grass by hand, fix it!”
With wide eyes, he turned to the mower.

 

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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

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
☀️I brought this series with me to Arkansas. I ☀️I brought this series with me to Arkansas. It seemed an appropriate way to remember Lani, a friend who shone like the sun even while facing death.
It was around this time of year in Arkansas that I first heard about her stage IV diagnosis of a rare cancer, and I had just started reading her first book. Sometimes I hesitate to read my friends’ books because I so much to love them it stresses me out. 😅 But when I started The Seventh Sun, I forgot I knew who wrote it, and lost myself in the story. Now I’m rereading it, and still struggling to slow down and not gobble it all up.
☀️I haven’t read The Obsidian Butterfly yet, and I’m so excited to see how this story continues.

☀️What a beautiful thing books are, that we can write them and read them and remember each other through words. I think Lani is watching us love her stories, and one day I hope to have a long talk with her about them.

☀️Is there an author who has passed on that you want to talk to about their books?

@laniforbes #laniforbes #rememberinglaniforbes #theseventhsun #thejadebones #theobsidianbutterfly #azteclegends #mayanaandahkin #yafantasybooks #yafantasyauthors #yafantasyseries #mayanlegend #mayanpeople #mayanstories #sheriyutzy
Your needs are sometimes endless Unfathomable Like Your needs are sometimes endless
Unfathomable
Like endless tangled currents that never let you go.

Your needs are vital; they are your language
But sometimes they are too tight around your body.
So tight you cannot lift your arms to find your true needs beneath the false ones.

It can feel impossible to find peace, contentment, when you are swept along by so much need.

You need your needs,
But sometimes, many times, it is best to let them go. You are safe without them. The true needs will always come back, and you will recognize them. You are still a person, in this world of self care, even if you release your needs and let yourself just be.

#intentionally #lettinggo #sheriyutzy #releasingneeds #slowliving #beaverlake #watchingtheriver #watchingtheriverflow #greenwater #selfcare #findinginnerpeace #findinginnerstrength #findinginnerharmony #writingcommunity
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