Page 52 - Vol. VII #8

LauReL LanDis
A Story from My Childhood
Sometime during the night,
I woke up and rose,
put my boots on, went outside. I was so light then!
I walked across the frozen snow, all the way to the far side
of the shrubbery,
without sinking in until
a square of light
appeared on the white, followed by a shadow
in the shape of my mother.
She must have opened the window
to call me in, put me back in bed.
But I don’t remember that,
only walking on the snow, like an astronaut.
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Landis is a Wisconsin native with an avid interest in photography, the out- doors, and the written word. Her short stories have appeared in Wiscon- sin People & Ideas, Lost in Thought, and Rosebud. She’s been excerpted in Judy Bridge’s book Shut Up & Write, and broadcast on Milwaukee Public Radio. She has led roundtables at the former Redbird Writing Studio, taught writing at Aurora’s Behavioral Health Inpatient program and is co-creator of A Picture & A Thousand Words, a collaborative event between writers and photographers in its third year.