{"id":74,"date":"2008-07-07T23:24:21","date_gmt":"2008-07-08T03:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=74"},"modified":"2008-09-07T19:34:49","modified_gmt":"2008-09-07T23:34:49","slug":"story-of-the-month-say-it-with-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=74","title":{"rendered":"Story of the Month &#8211; &#8220;Say It With Flowers&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This month&#8217;s short story is another selection from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.everydayfiction.com\" target=\"_blank\">Every Day Fiction<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.everydayfiction.com\/say-it-with-flowers-by-tels-merrick\/\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Say It With Flowers&#8221;<\/a> by Tels Merrick appeared in the June issue.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not easy picking a new story each month because it can be difficult to define what makes a story stick in my head weeks after reading it.\u00c2\u00a0 For this story, it&#8217;s because Merrick captured relationship dynamics between a couple that made it stay with me.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The misunderstandings I experience with my husband come from different expectations\u00c2\u00a0in a specific situation\u00c2\u00a0or incomplete communication in a thought process.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Thus, I could relate to Elspeth&#8217;s anchorless feeling while Jared worked in the garden instead of spending time with her.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I also liked it that I expected the story to give a little twist and it didn&#8217;t do it in the ways I expected.\u00c2\u00a0 With near certainty, I thought Elspeth would find the Christmas gift after Jared passed away.\u00c2\u00a0 But she found something else and he didn&#8217;t die!<\/p>\n<p>Merrick&#8217;s publishing credits seem small right now but I&#8217;m sure it won&#8217;t be long before she&#8217;s publishing with more frequency.\u00c2\u00a0 We are members of the same online writing community.\u00c2\u00a0 She brought my attention to\u00c2\u00a0her story by announcing the good news of her publication.\u00c2\u00a0 I think I would have found it on my own because it&#8217;s so good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month&#8217;s short story is another selection from Every Day Fiction.\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;Say It With Flowers&#8221; by Tels Merrick appeared in the June issue.\u00c2\u00a0 It&#8217;s not easy picking a new story each month because it can be difficult to define what makes a story stick in my head weeks after reading it.\u00c2\u00a0 For this story, it&#8217;s&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=74\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Story of the Month &#8211; &#8220;Say It With Flowers&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story-of-the-month","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.8 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This month&#039;s short story is another selection from Every Day Fiction.\u00c2 &quot;Say It With Flowers&quot; 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