Finding Ninee » Sharing our parenting and special needs stories with heart and humor.

Content. A Fictional Six-Sentence-Story.

A couple of weeks ago, I joined Ivy’s Six Sentence Story prompt with these two fictional stories. Since then, I’ve been thinking about Denise from the second of the two. Her story continues here in six more sentences. This week’s word is “content.”

When are we content - FindingNinee.com

“Certainly this can’t really be a grave,” Denise thought as she leaned in for a closer look, absently grinding her cigarette into the dirt of fake-Prada lady’s backyard.  She threw the butt over the fence before finding a plastic gardening bucket to dig with, wondering whether the grave might belong to a forbidden lover, or whether it’s part of an even juicier story, and lies empty waiting for a freshly-killed body.

“Nah, that’s stupid,” she thought, “it’s probably not even a grave, or, if it is, is a spot like thousands in yards everywhere containing the disintegrating bones of a once-loved pet.”

Denise began lightly digging with the bucket while thinking about other graves, and of the early morning that she went to identify her father’s body found next to the train tracks, waiting for in the morgue for six full days before they knew who he was and found her as his kin to claim him.

She remembered how still his body was and how she knew then that people who say that the dead look like they’re sleeping are full of shit, and she thought about the look on his face, and how for the first time, maybe the only time, he looked peaceful. Content.

six sentence fictional story about contentment, graves, and a woman finding herself


by Kristi Campbell

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  • Ivy - They never look sleeping. Cool idea to continue the story line….i love the “fake prada lady” …i have so many people in my life with appointed monikers like this one.September 3, 2015 – 9:04 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Do I have one? And it better be something more awesomely unique than Weeniebutt because FRIST.September 3, 2015 – 9:06 pmReplyCancel

      • Ivy - Like the screaming apple lady or mr. Bus stopSeptember 3, 2015 – 9:17 pmReplyCancel

  • ivy - Oops…i tend to give them to people whose names i dont know…September 3, 2015 – 9:18 pmReplyCancel

  • Josie Two Shoes - I am loving this story and hope it will continue! I too have found that the dead don’t really appear to be sleeping, but rather as you say, there is a countenance of contentment – true release from the burdens carried that often haunt us even as we sleep. This story line feels dark, and yet very real. I already like that about your character, she is real… not pretending, not fake. My kind of woman!September 3, 2015 – 9:30 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - I think that it may continue, Josie. And yeah, to the dead. It’s such a strange concept and leads to so much more – what happens after and where do we go and all of that. The story does feel a little dark, which was a bit of a surprise for me as that is not usually my writing. Maybe it’s some alter-ego thing that Ivy is helping me to bring out in the fiction?September 4, 2015 – 10:35 pmReplyCancel

  • Lisa @ The Meaning of Me - Again, well done. I like this character.
    Yeah, I would never say dead people look like they’re sleeping.September 3, 2015 – 9:38 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - I don’t know that it’s a chapter but thank you. I don’t know if this is going anywhere but I like that it’s made me think. And yeah, dead people. They look dead.September 4, 2015 – 10:35 pmReplyCancel

      • Lisa @ The Meaning of Me - Character…not chapter! 😀 I really like this Denise character.September 4, 2015 – 10:51 pmReplyCancel

  • Emily - Great writing once again…really loved your last paragraph. You’ve got a knack for this, I’m telling ya!September 3, 2015 – 10:07 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Gah. I dunno. This isn’t the book I have in my head but seems to be the one coming for these six sentence things so maybe just go with it is what I’ve been telling myself. Of course, nanowrimo is 50k words and this is six sentences so they likely won’t be related. But thank you!September 4, 2015 – 10:36 pmReplyCancel

  • Mimi - Loved this Kristi! So much fun to read a different kind of writing from you. I was riveted!September 3, 2015 – 10:33 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Um, could you cheat a bit and give us a few more sentences? What happened?! 🙂September 4, 2015 – 2:09 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Gah, I dunno! Should I keep going with it or do the story in my head? Fiction is weird. As is life, I suppose.September 4, 2015 – 10:38 pmReplyCancel

  • My Inner Chick - Kristy,
    have I told you lately that I love U? Okay, I know I don’t really know you, but what difference does that make.
    Anyhow, I like what Lizzy said, “They are not home anymore. They are in their new home.”

    xxSeptember 4, 2015 – 10:54 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Kim,
      I always always welcome somebody as fabulous and as amazing as you telling me that you love me. Thank you. And we know one another. I’ve had the conversation with writerly friends about how we share so much more in writing than we would in a grocery line or at a playground. It makes us easier to know one another and easier to love. The feeling is mutual.September 4, 2015 – 10:39 pmReplyCancel

  • Tamara - I’ve never seen a dead body! Not a loved one or anything. But we were there when my dog was put to sleep and it did NOT look like sleeping at all. You’re so right. It looked like.. well.. like the life was gone.

    I love your character!!September 4, 2015 – 2:09 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Tamara,
      A dog’s life gone looks the same. I’ve witnessed both and it’s true — it just looks like life is gone. Where does it go? And thank you.September 4, 2015 – 10:40 pmReplyCancel

  • Allie - I got shivers when I read this. Well fdone my friend! I like it:). More please…September 4, 2015 – 4:03 pmReplyCancel

  • Out One Ear - I would love to be inside your head Kristi. It is so full of incredible ideas and thoughts and stories. How do you do this????September 4, 2015 – 9:37 pmReplyCancel

  • Marcia @ Menopausal Mother - I love these story snippets, Kristi! Fiction writing is in your blood. Can’t wait to read the next installment!September 4, 2015 – 11:43 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Aw thanks, Marcia! Maybe we should write a fiction post together — you could make me way funnier 😉September 5, 2015 – 10:44 pmReplyCancel

  • Pat B - It is so interesting to see this story evolve. It makes me wonder what kinds of hidden stories are within myself.September 5, 2015 – 1:43 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Pat, I bet there are so many hidden within you! I think you should explore more the stories that are now locked inside your mom — taking snippets of ones she’s told you before and adding to them.September 5, 2015 – 10:46 pmReplyCancel

  • Dana - So now I want to now what’s in that hole, AND more about her relationship with her dad.

    I never go up and look at the deceased at a viewing. That’s not them.September 6, 2015 – 12:07 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - That’s smart to not view them. At my husband’s mom’s funeral, we were right there and I couldn’t help but look. Too much. You’re right – that’s not them at all.September 7, 2015 – 7:50 pmReplyCancel

  • Anita - Touching story.September 7, 2015 – 2:30 amReplyCancel

  • Anita - Touching story.
    Hope no one has to encounter a dead body of a loved one this way and what’s more have to go through the process of having to claim it…September 7, 2015 – 2:31 amReplyCancel

  • Sandy Ramsey - I’m so far behind but I had to go back and read from the beginning. This is really good! I sure hope you continue the story because I’m kinda hooked now.
    It is complete horseshit that dead people look like they are just sleeping. I hate that I even know that.September 7, 2015 – 9:50 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Sandy – thank you and you’re right — total horseshit that dead people look like they’re asleep!September 8, 2015 – 5:20 pmReplyCancel

  • Kerri - Great job with 6 sentences to continue the first “chapter”. I hope you keep goingSeptember 8, 2015 – 12:04 pmReplyCancel

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