Author: Ann Marie Bryant

As of late, I am a fifty-something grandmother who loves to write. Since I come from a long line of storytellers, I believe it's time to share those stories and preserve our family history. My hope is that my family will treasure these memories as much as I do!

Flash Fiction

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Recently, I have decided to begin writing again on a more consistent basis. In truth, I feel rusty, so I have decided to practice and dust off my composition skills. At the same time, I have decided to take some time off from my family history articles and short stories about my ancestors. I need a break. Therefore, I currently participate in the Get Started Right Writing Challenge from Writer’s Digest. In February, I will begin the Flash Fiction Challenge, also from Writer’s Digest. In the meantime, I am looking at the Flash Fiction Challenge from last year. I plan to use prompts from the previous year to help me get started on my new writing selections. So, here’s to a new year and new stories! Wish me luck!

What exactly is Flash Fiction, you ask?

While the definitions vary, flash fiction maintains three distinct types of writing. But as this writing genre grows and changes, don’t quote me! Tomorrow may be a whole new ballgame. I love, love writing!

  • Flash fiction: Max 1,500 words.
  • Sudden fiction: Max 750 words.
  • Drabble, or microfiction: Max 100 words.

Photo by hannah grace on Unsplash

Mama’s Timeline

Published on by Ann Marie Bryant4 Comments

Recently, our school worked on research projects for the Middle Years Program. Our eighth graders worked on a living history project. One of the projects students created was a timeline about a person they interviewed. It included at least ten global threshold events and ten personal events about the person they picked. Since I thought it was a great idea, I completed a timeline too about my mom Dorothy Allen.

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Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais: The Mother of Universal Charity

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Margueritte d’Youville – Le Mémorial du Québec, 1918

All the wealth in the world cannot be compared with the happiness of living together happily united.

— Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais – Saint Marie-Marguerite d’Youville

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No, Not That One

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Tales of a Family

In 1956 in the little town of Delta, Colorado while standing with her parents, a young woman cried; she wasn’t ready to leave her parents and return home.  Her vacation was not long enough, and she wished she could spend more time with her family.  As people began to gather at the bus stop that would take them to western destinations, the parents of the young women tried to comfort their daughter as she prepared to head back to California and return to her job as a telephone operator in Oakland.  Once the bus pulled up to the curb, her parents teased her about the fine-looking young men in uniform that were also traveling on the bus.  Her mother spotted a handsome man in his dress greens; he had dark hair and large brown eyes that warmly sparkled when he smiled.  “Oh, I would sit by that one,” her mother…

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End of the Line: Madeline De Brie and Nicholas Mignault

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Herman, Paul and Jean de Limbourg, October (detail with Louvre), from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1413-16, ink on vellum (Musée Condé, Chantilly)

During the sixteenth century, the Renassaince arrived throughout the nations of Europe, and France celebrated in all of its glorious splendor. The French monarchs returned to the city, and Paris began to flourish. Henry IV ended the religious wars and his people enjoyed their new spiritual freedoms. New monarchies supported the arts and sciences, which influenced all the nations of Europe. Architectural wonders, monuments, and city parks abounded, and Parisians took pride in their lovely homeland.

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