
Christopher Woods
He believes that if he keeps smiling, something good will come to him. A decent meal. A roof, even for a night. He misses family most. Remembers better times. But there’s no time now to fret about the past. He must keep moving lest he is arrested or mugged. He keeps walking, imagines something wonderful waiting for him around the very next corner. It can happen. It could happen. Oh, how he wants it to happen. He keeps walking. He keeps smiling, until it hurts.

Christopher Woods
These nights, her dreams are her joy. Most of the time, though some nights the horrors of her past return. She tries to block them. She wants and needs better dreams. The best ones find her on a beach. Holding hands with someone she trusts. Her child sitting in her lap, like old times. When she has these dreams, she does not want to wake up. But then daylight stirs and the street calls to her. Hungry and dirty, she will wander those streets until nightfall, until the good life is within reach again.
©2020 Christopher Woods
All rights reserved
Christopher Woods is a writer and photographer who lives in Chappell Hill, Texas. He has published a novel, THE DREAM PATCH, a prose collection, UNDER A RIVERBED SKY, and a book of stage monologues for actors, HEART SPEAK. His photographs can be seen in his gallery. His photography prompt book for writers, FROM VISION TO TEXT, is forthcoming from PROPERTIUS PRESS. His novella, HEARTS IN THE DARK, is forthcoming from RUNNING WILD PRESS.