November 18, 2023
Every week we post six lines of a story of ours, a work-in-progress or from someone else’s work that we recommend that has LGBT characters on Rainbow Snippets, here; https://www.facebook.com/groups/RainbowSnippets/?multi_permalinks=24082521664724569¬if_id=1700355017635329¬if_t=group_activity&ref=notif
My snippet this week is from my story “Do Paint the Meadows With Delight,” which is an Honorary Mention in the Queer Sci Fi anthology “Rise.” https://www.otherworldsink.com/book/rise/ Oh, the title is from Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labors Lost.” It’s a special story for me, and I’ll say too much about it afterward.
Marac would be returning soon after her two weeks away from the house they called “Love Cottage.” Two weeks of what she described as “a boring gaggle of Sorcerers and acolytes of the Dal Lords, learning nothing but talking a lot.”
Auris stayed home, maintained the house and the garden. Not that the garden looked maintained.
The garden looked like winter.
It was a small strip of ground right next to the house but it was still theirs.
My late husband Darryl Thompson moved in with me in November of 2010. He was usually nearby (sometimes snuggled up to me) while I was writing. And this story was one of the last I wrote with him right there. But I feel he’s still with me and the loving, romantic couples I sometimes write about come from us. Next week, a Thanksgiving leftover.—–jeff
authorjeffbaker 
What a beautiful memory! My father died near Thanksgiving 2010 after many years of declining health. His death was a mercy but there was a lot left unresolved. I found myself weepy earlier this week and I think the time of year may have something to do with that, although my health and money issues are omnipresent.
I resonated with this line:
It was a small strip of ground right next to the house but it was still theirs.
It sounds a bit like the backyard of the house I share with my son. We live in one of the poorest towns on the northeastern Colorado plains in a house built in 1910 that has stood strong against many harsh winters but needs a lot of work. The yard is mostly a tangle of prairie grass, but it’s ours. That means a lot after a lifetime living in shoddy, overpriced apartments and about 20 years spent in a mobile home park with inflated lot rent.
Thank you so much! I’m glad it meant something to you!
Beautiful! Love how Shakespeare played a part in this! (heart)
Awwww! Thanks!
Loved the bit about the garden and oh, what a memory to associate this story with
Yeah, it is! Thanks so much!