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Excerpt

I called for the candle to be brought closer. The chambermaid held the flame beside me as her shadow lurched against the wall behind her. The woman sitting in front of me looked down into the bundled blanket she was holding. I heard a tiny whine, almost like a hinge on a rainy day, but it had not rained for weeks, and the door was soundly bolted. The bundle seemed to shift, but it could have been the flickering candle. The woman sat on a bed, a plain frame, with a mattress, most likely feathers. Her husband, a successful merchant, could afford four posts with curtains, and more. Even so, the bed frame was plain, well-oiled pine, honey under the single flame. I turned my eyes back to the bundle. I reached to move the cloth aside. The woman’s shoulders started shaking, her head hung lower. Pulling the cloth back I could see something smooth, pale pink. I touched it with the side of my finger, the pale part rolled away, revealing a dark red cloud. I touched that too, soft, silky, yielding yet firm, like a ripe berry. I pulled the cloth aside to get a better look, and a tiny fist pushed up through the folds. The baby plugged his mouth with his fingers and rolled his eyes at me, cow-like. He was not more than two days old. Our faces turned as we heard a swish of someone on the other side of the rough wooden door. But no one knocked. The baby mewled again. One of his fists rubbed up against the mark, the voglie as I had learned to call it. The surface of the mark was downy, plump and red like a raspberry flattened on the side of his face. I touched the infant carefully, turning his head from side to side to get a good look in what light we had.

Bio

Caren is a friend to many Clarion West graduates and teachers. She is late of Seattle, Washington, but is currently a student in the San Francisco State University Creative Writing Poetry program. She lives and writes with her cat, Elliot, in Oakland, California, where she regularly strolls the neighborhood counting bird species.

Publications

Read Caren's first published poem in the next edition of Teeny Tiny, but until then, find her flash, poetry, movie reviews, political rants, and serialized short stories at carenann.blogspot.com

Writing Description

Caren writes lyrical poetry (usually free and blank verse), short stories of a fantastic and speculative nature, and flash memoir of her life as a child in Georgia.

Writing Goals

I will edit and continue writing new pages for my short story/novella "Marked." In addition, I will write a poem a day.

Fundraising Goals

I dedicate my participation this year to Mark Bourne. I would like to be sponsored by at least five people with a combined contribution exceeding $200.

Website

http://carenann.blogspot.com

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