6-minute Stories

– Breeding for a silver dapple is a bit of a gamble.

I was planning on it, laughingly saying I was going to ride until I was 95.

Bio

Janet K. Baxter lives in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and is a member of the Charlotte Writer’s Club and Scribblers, a memoir critique group. Her stories, “Horse Whispering for the Average Woman,” “Southern Blues,” “A Frank Lesson,” “Cappie, The Boomerang Horse,” “An Angel’s Smile,” “Morgan: Our Escape Artist,” “One Soul Alone,” and “Forest Bathing on Horseback” appeared in previous anthologies published by the Personal Story Publishing Project. Retired, Janet enjoys thread painting, trail riding, writing, and all the delights of her “mini-estate”: www.mountaingaitacres.com.

Winston-Salem-native Mick Scott worked in the Winston-Salem Journal’s editorial department for 20 years, the last five of those as editorial-page editor. During that time, he churned out thousands of editorials and opinion columns on tight deadline and received numerous first- and second-place awards from the N.C. Press Association. He is the author of Stardust and Scar Tissue: Rambles, Ruminations, and the Search for an Authentic Culture of Life, published in 2023 by Press53. Follow Mick’s current writing at mickscott.substack.com 

This story is offered for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944. It is the experience that day of my next-door neighbor as he wrote it years later. He passed away in February 2024 after turning 100 on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day. This version of the story ran four years ago when he was 96. It first ran when he was 95. A few years ago he learned that he had been awarded a fourth Purple Heart to accompany his Bronze Star. This story is offered in honor and memory of all World War II veterans with special appreciation for your service, Horace. Thank you, and thank you, veterans, all.

Winston-Salem-native Mick Scott worked in the Winston-Salem Journal’s editorial department for 20 years, the last five of those as editorial-page editor. During that time, he churned out thousands of editorials and opinion columns on tight deadline and received numerous first- and second-place awards from the N.C. Press Association. He is the author of Stardust and Scar Tissue: Rambles, Ruminations, and the Search for an Authentic Culture of Life, published in 2023 by Press53. Follow Mick’s current writing at mickscott.substack.com 

Phyllis Castelli returned home to Henderson, North Carolina, after retirement from her music career. She spends time with her lifetime special interests:  writing, music, photography, a pollinator garden, and Black Labrador Retrievers. Phyllis loves to create projects that knit together the beauty of those favorites.

Phyllis’s poems and essays have appeared in Quillkeepers Press, The Avocet, Scarlet Leaf Review, and Tar River Poets, among others. As a young poet, she published Gentle, I Think, a book of poems with pen and ink illustrations.

Constant writer and occasional author M. J. Norwood lives in East Bend, North Carolina. Her work has appeared in previous Personal Story Publishing Project publications Curious Stuff and Twists and Turns. A member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, and active in Yadkin County’s Between the Covers Book Club, she is currently writing her third novel, and avidly supporting the Atlanta Braves.

Akira Odani lives in the ancient city of St. Augustine, Florida. He belongs to Taste Life Twice Writers and the Florida Writers Association. Born in Tokyo, he had written extensively for the Japanese media. Still, more recently, his interest has turned to writing in English and subjects related to his experiences interacting with the two cultures. Some of his work has appeared in the pages of FWA anthologies, The Weekly Avocet, PSPP, Twists and Turns, Lost & Found, and Sooner or Later. He stays active, meditating, swimming, and playing pickleball.

Ellen Zaroff lives in New York City and has recently published three books: A Layered Tress, A Tree’s Tale, and Once, Upon Reflection. Her fourth book is due out soon. She runs a small foundation and travels trying to help community projects while collecting stories and sharing stories from around the world.

S. G. (Sandy) Benson lives in Warne, North Carolina, where she is a member of the North Carolina Writers Network-West. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers and received awards from the Nebraska Press Women. She published her first book in 2021, My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia. Her next book, Dear Folks: Letters Home from World War II, 1943-1946 is scheduled for release in April 2024. Details at https://www.sandygbenson.com/

Thomas Gery, a common man with uncommon experiences lives in Berks County, Pennsylvania. He served in the U.S. Army with duty in Vietnam. As a social worker he helped children, youth, and adults in a variety of practice venues and situations throughout a work life of 40 years. Married with two adult children and two grandchildren, he is currently writing his life’s story to provide answers to questions his kids will never ask. His first two published stories appeared in Personal Story Publishing Project—Lost & Found, spring 2023 and Sooner or Later, fall 2023.