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House of Cards (100 words on Saturday)

May 14, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Jill never intended to dig such a deep hole. At first she skimmed cash off the top, just a little here and there, money no one noticed. She’d pay it back. Of course she would.

Eight years later, her game had reached a point of no return as she falsified wire transfers, forged documents and kited money across the country. Deep down she knew the day would come. Eventually. Yet eventually became impossible to imagine as the scam became her reality.

Until the slip-up.

One overlooked bank transaction.

Her house of cards unraveled by lunchtime. Really though, truth brought relief.

piggy bank mconner morguefile

Grace Grits and Gardening

This week I’m linking up with Write Tribe’s 100 Words on Saturday. Prompt: she realized she could no longer hide the truth.  And p.s. this story is fiction—any resemblance to true bank drama is coincidental. No, really.

100 Words on Saturday

happy and carefree

January 18, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

happy and carefreeThe marketplace was too loud to read so I closed my book and watched him. He banged on the lid of the trash can, then giggled to no one in particular. As he mumbled a tune, he wiggled around hopping from one foot to the other. Probably needed to pee, I thought. He was likely at that stage where he insisted on dressing himself. Mothers learn quickly to pick their battles, and coordinating clothing is typically traded off for something more important. He was content wearing  a mismatched striped outfit and playing his makeshift drum. We should all be so carefree.

Grace Grits and Gardening

“Children see magic because they look for it.”
― 
Christopher Moore

This was written for Write Tribe – 100 Words on Saturday – Picture Prompt

My Little Sister

January 5, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Curled inside my polka dot sleeping bag, I hid underneath the dining room table reading.
 
Momma said I would catch a cold lying on the floor, but the furnace warmed the air, and I was comfortable.
            
Santa brought me a whole stack of books. 
 
He brought my little sister a huge stack too.
 
Even though I was two years, nine months and seven days older, everyone—even Santa—treated us like twins and assumed we enjoyed the same things.
 
My sister would never read her new books.
 
So really I got a double stack of books, and she got shortchanged.

beanbag chairs, 1970s

talya
 
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
 
This was written for Write Tribe  100 Words on Saturday Prompt #1 – My Little Sister.
(This is also a snippet from my book, reworked to fit the prompt.)
100 Words on Saturday - Write Tribe
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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: May 25, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: May 4, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Rainy Day Edition
  • Spiderwort: my love-hate relationship
  • Sunday Letter: March 23, 2025

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