How to write a short story- Part Three

I am a bit nervous about goin’. I am not shore what it is I am supposed to read. I don’t know what I should ask. I jest don’t know. Perhaps it is time for a prayer now.

Dear Lord,
I’m comin’ to talk to you today. I want to git to know you in the way I hear everybody talkin’. I just don’t see how you have ‘nuff love for everybody, especially a poor uneducated fool like me. Please give me the courage and the knowledge to get to know you. In your name I pray, Amen.

I guess I had best get my satchel, Bible and git my meal decided. I think I’ll be takin’ a loaf of bread and a chunk a cheese. I will get some water out of the creek to drink and fill up the thermos so it will be nice and cool.

Glad I got up early, so I can git out of here, before anybody asks where I am goin’ and if they can go along too. Glad Jack is on the pasture and he can be ridden bareback. I can just git Jack over to one of the stumps and hop onto his back. I shore love the gentle horse I was able to earn ‘nuff money to buy. I’m glad I don’t have to pay for feed, the mister just lets me keep Jack here for as long as I’m here.

How to write a short story- Part One

Hi, my name is Sue. I work on a dude ranch outside of Cody, Wyoming. It sure is pretty country. There are lots of pine and spruce trees and some quaking aspens. One of my favorite things to do on my days off is ride up in the trees on my horse, Jack.

I have always had a good life. I had two wonderful parents who did the best they could for us, it is mighty hard to make a living out here in the sagebrush of Wyoming. My nine siblings and I had all we could want, but we always knew our parents sacrificed a lot so we could have shoes to wear to school and a set of nice clothes for Sunday meetin’ time. I knew a lot of kids only had shoes with holes in them, because their families couldn’t even get them repaired.

Although I have had that good life there has always been something troublin’ me. And that is the Sunday meetin’ time. Those Circuit Riders were always hollarin’ and makin’ me feel like God was goin’ to get me if I looked cross-eyed at the neighbors. I had done some readin’ of the Bible and from what I gathered the Old Testament God was like that, but not the God of the New Testament.

I ain’t been livin’ at home for nigh on twenty years give or take. I left when I was sixteen, so my family wouldn’t have to support me no more. I knew I could find work as a dishwasher or cook at one of them fancy dude ranches up near the park, Yellowstone National Park.

This ranch I’ve been workin’ at has been real good to me. It has been around since the late 1800’s and is still goin’ strong here in the 1950’s. I started out a dishwasher, then helpin’ prepare the food and now I’m the boss over ‘em all in the kitchen. It sure is lots of fun. Once in a while I get letters from some of my friends and they don’t get the days off like I do.

I have been havin’ difficulties with my relationships with God. I still see him as I did when I was livin’ at home, scary. I can feel God trying to work on my heart every day. I have been thinking that I would take today to ride up to my favorite spot along Libby Creek to learn more about God and really listen with my heart.

How to write a short story- establish setting

Sue has the day off, so she is going to take her horse and ride for the day. She knows there is a God, because she went to church every Sunday with her family when she was younger. Sue was never able to learn about God in the personal way she wanted to and today is going to be the day she has chosen to learn about God. Her trip takes her through the forest to a clearing with a small creek running through it. Sue has been here before in this quiet area, when she felt God trying to speak to her. Sue knows this clearing with the grass, iris, buttercups, and sagebrush is the perfect place to learn about God. She is going to pray to God, so he can help her pick the best parts of the Bible to read.

How to write a short story- creating a problem or conflict

The conflict in my story is based on person vs. God or fate.

In this story Sue is happy, but she knows there is more to life. She has gone to church in the past, but she has not been interested in the God that the church has portrayed. She decides to take her Bible and her horse and go to the forest for a ride.