Leaning Forward

Cully fought her way up the steep hill, attacked at every step by thick alder bushes bent from last winter’s snow. Clumps of prickly Devil’s Club and patches of stinging Cow Parsnip cautioned “danger, retreat.”

She didn’t listen.

Her fiancé waited for her over the next rise. He’d shown her his route on the map before he launched his Cessna 180. She blinked against the stinging sweat dripping off her forehead. In her mind, she saw his wide cowboy smile as he kneeled before her, placing his ring on her finger.

She was out of breath and water by the time she arrived but knew it was the place from the shredded trees and plane debris. She leaned forward.

Then fell.

She’d found him.

Alaskan author Lynne Curry has published four short stories, the most recent in 2022 (After Dinner Conversations) and 2021 (101 Words) and six books, including Navigating Conflict and Managing for Accountability  (BEP), Beating the Workplace Bully (AMACOM) and Solutions. She publishes a weekly “dear Abby of the workplace” newspaper column and in her www.workplacecoachblog (2525 subscribers).