“I said bring your bog boots.”
“Should’ve told me I’d need clothes for the Arctic as well. I may have listened to you then.”
“It’s summer. Not that cold. Don’t be a wuss.”
“It’s not the cold that’s getting me. It’s these huge bloody mosquitos.”
“Ah!” Johanna fumbled in her back pack and pulled out an item that looked like a memory stick. She flicked its switch to on. “Music for female mosquitos. They won’t come near us now. See those yellow berries.”
“Where?”
“Low to the ground. Cloudberries. Musky, tart, exotic, and elusive. An enigma.”
“Just like you.”
In response to Charli’s prompt where she asks :
August 10, 2017 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) include music and berries. It can be fantastical, such as the music of berries or a story that unfolds about a concert in a berry patch. Go where the prompt leads.
Respond by August 15, 2017 to be included in the compilation (published August 16). Rules are here. All writers are welcome!
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About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
I like it. An extraordinary flash featuring an extraordinary berry. Well picked.
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Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the pickings.
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Surprises and mysteries. Well done, Irene.
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Thanks Sharon. Cloud berry bliss.
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Beautiful flash with setting and character so nicely realized in pure dialogue. Love that last line…”…Musky, tart, exotic, and elusive. An enigma…Just like you.”
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Glad you liked the last line. I was going to say “musky, tart, exotic – so juicy.” but thought that might cross the line a little.
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Snappy dialog and a great comeback! I’m now curious to try these berries…and that mosquito stick! I’ll have to ask my daughter who is living in Svolbard if she has had time to pick cloud berries.
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My brother gave me the mosquito stick – a WHO handout. It replicates the music of the male mozzie in heat and the females avoid it As female mozzies are the biters and carriers of disease it seems to work but as I forget to turn it off the batteries are frequently run down.
Your daughter is certainly in the right spot for them. Let me know if she has tried them. What is she doing there?
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Oh, wow! I will have to find one of these sticks. My daughter is living in Norway with her boyfriend, and he’s a chef at the hotel in Svalbard. She works in the bar. They also get healthcare.
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What a wonderful experience for her. I loved Scandinavia and would love to return and go much further north.
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I hope the berries make up for the mosquito discomfort.
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Let me assure you – they do.
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