Barb Dukeman
Bio
After 32 years of teaching high school English, I've started writing again and loving every minute of it. I enjoy bringing ideas to life and the concept of leaving behind a legacy.
Stories (112/0)
It's Spooky Time Once Again
A spooky playlist for Halloween? Do you mean the one I listen to every other week just because I want to see the reaction of those willing to let me drive them places? The one I listen to in the car when I’m by myself, windows down, July? This challenge is right up my alley. Of the 60 or so stories and poems I’ve written and submitted to Vocal so far, I’ve touched on a cemetery setting twice, end-of-life scenarios four times, the underworld three times, a requiem, a conversation with a ghost, a review of a haunted amusement park, and my own eulogy. A prevailing theme permeates much of what I like to write. A playlist to go with the normal dark side of me as well as the Spooky Time decorations I put up weeks ago already? Yes. Very yes.
By Barb Dukeman2 years ago in Beat
The Change that Happens Late in Life
Her hand in mine. Her hand was warm but she held on tight. The six of us continued looking at the machine with the numbers, watching, waiting. Top number was the heart rate; below that were other numbers: blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and respiration. The glowing digits in the darkened room changed every moment as the tendrils of tubes measured the last bits of my mother’s life. An hour earlier, I had jokingly bet which number would reach zero first – respiration. I would be right.
By Barb Dukeman3 years ago in Families
The Nextian Universe of Jasper Fforde
If you could chat with any character you’ve ever read about, who would it be? Would you be having tea with Hermione to discuss which spell she finds the most difficult? Would you take a leisurely stroll with Samwise Gamgee and have him show you the highlights of Hobiton? Might the possibility of having an audience with Gandalf, Merlin, and Dumbledore together at the same time be of interest to you? How about hanging out with Luke Skywalker and finding out he’s always had a crush on Marianne Dashwood? This is the setting of Jasper Fforde’s series beginning with The Eyre Affair.
By Barb Dukeman3 years ago in Fiction
The Story of Bo
It’s in his haunted eyes. When I drove to the city an hour away, the anticipation of meeting our new dog was filled with wavering trepidation. There were three sweet beagles available for adoption through the Beagle Rescue: all three cute as a button. They had their stories, their photos, their details pasted on the front page of the website like a dating site. Bo’s face was turned a little to the side, and I could just make out the speckles that identify him as a beagle. His backstory is what sealed the deal for me.
By Barb Dukeman3 years ago in Petlife
- First Place in A Day in the Life Challenge
Teaching is Not for the Faint of HeartFirst Place in A Day in the Life Challenge
I loved my job because I made a difference. First day back to school in 1989 Past tense is necessary because I recently retired after 32 years of teaching in Florida. Once you’ve past the 10-year mark, teaching is in your blood forever. I feel the intense need to correct spelling and apostrophes on signs, and I’ve dangerously Shhhhh’d people at the movies. Retirement doesn’t mean my job is over; it’s simply morphing into different endeavors. Educators in the United States are both respected and maligned, depending on the issue, state, or even day of the week.
By Barb Dukeman3 years ago in Education
Forever Innocent
Headmaster Percy Blackburn took his spectacles off and polished them with a white cotton handkerchief he kept in his pocket. He repeated this habit often, which signaled to the girls of the Chiller’s School for Young Women that he was agitated, upset over some trivial action or some perceived transgression from one of his charges. Euphemia Wood, his assistant, would immediately fetch him a glass of gin or absinthe in response. It was a habit that repeated itself often.
By Barb Dukeman3 years ago in Horror
The Fairies and the Money Tree
The Fairies and The Money Tree The stories begin as early as 12th century England when Gervase of Tilbury recorded one of the first mentions of enchanted places with animals possessing human characteristics along with spirits that were either good or evil. At that time, people feared these fairies and grouped them with witches who could cast curses and wreak havoc in a town. In Ireland, these creatures were called the Little People and were feared and treated with respect. Common among all stories, fairies had paths in the woods that were forbidden to be crossed and forests that were considered hallowed.
By Barb Dukeman3 years ago in Fiction
My Mom's Green Thumb
My mother’s green thumb couldn’t be surpassed by many. Oh, I’m sure there are horticulturists and botanists that study this kind of thing, but to her it was as natural as breathing. Her yard was full of shade trees, fruit trees, plants of every kind from bromeliads to kalanchoe. She knew the best ways to keep the rabbits away from her blueberries. This solution was to sit outside at night and throw rocks at the rabbits when they come for her blueberries. A couple of nights of this, and there were no more bun-buns around.
By Barb Dukeman3 years ago in Families