This is part one of a three-part-series on ideas I explored in the short story collection Shelf Life, now available on Amazon free for the next couple days.
In the short story “Nevermore,” a writer orders her own gravestone after an embarrassing public debacle, and the grave maker renders two visions of the story she might pursue with her life. “Nevermore” was a story I wrote for a writing contest on the theme “creatives.” Choosing a grave maker might be a bit grim, but I thought about how a grave and monument maker might encounter the highest and lowest moments in people’s lives.
Stories make a mark, too.
My maternal grandmother knew this well as she surprised our family one Christmas with a small forty page memoir. She typed it up old-school, and it included photographs and family history timelines. It begins with a kidnapping in 1645 (not kidding) and covers as much of our family history as she knew, including my grandparents’ fifty-plus years of marriage. It ends with a wish that we continue the story. It was three hole punched in a small binder and an utter treasure. 
We want something of permanence, and we’re faced daily with mundane tasks like laundry and dishes that seem to chip away at our desire to do things that last longer. I wanted to write a story that encapsulated the role that perspective plays in how we manage the mundane.
This story is available free online here at Short Fiction Break (a great place for short stories!).
If you happen to pick up and read a copy of Shelf Life, I’d love it if you left an honest review to help lead others to the collection. Thanks as always for your support!