55 words

I fell down a little narrative medicine hole today, and in so doing, I found a writing mechanism called the 55-word story.  There is an excellent discussion of this mechanism in this JAMA article from 2017.  Writing is a tool for processing, reflection, entertainment, teaching, and so much more.  But sometimes you just don't have any bloody time.  Enter this tiny sliver of writing!  It's almost a game - 55 words exactly, no more, no less, but in any format you'd like - and completing one is terribly satisfying.

I am going to start doing this, and I hope it will be a regular event.  Here is today's story.



PALS

You'd think they would be blase about it
but instead, they take notes, intent
in a class they have taken before

They know
the particular fear
of holding a mother upright as she says goodbye
and they know they must answer, to her, to themselves, to the fear
We did our best.  We did everything.