Mother on a Mission

Soup. She craved some warm, delicious soup. Her children needed soup. This favorite dish was not always easy to find, but lucky her: So many restaurants had just moved into the neighborhood!

She stopped by the nearest, but the smell turned her off. The owner had just painted the façade.

She hurried to the next eatery.

What? She would have sworn she could sense a delectable aroma emanating from the kitchen, but this place was boarded up.

The next locale was open. Hm, the food must be good. Crowds were swarming to it. Finding a place to sit was tricky, but she was able to squeeze in. Yum, the soup was fantastic. With her belly as full as she could get it, she sighed and started to leave. Suddenly, a wind storm hit!

She ducked through a doorway then sprang back as a flat section of the bistro smashed onto two of her fellow diners. She shrieked and darted away as fast as she could.

Ah, man. She was already hungry again, and her unborn children still needed her to obtain as much of that tasty red soup as possible, so she flew towards another potentially open establishment. If she were lucky, she could grab another meal there too.

           Don’t get bitten!

She had always enjoyed these fly-by outdoor cafes. She sang as she perused the dining options. This was going to be a good day.

Story inspiration: Group hiking in the mountains, through the shade of tree boughs, after a rain. Long pants, long sleeves, bug spray, head net…my deli’s closed!

Photographs: I am by far an expert at fiber art, but I do enjoy it. I wanted a fun accompaniment to a gift I was giving to my adventurer friend, so I scanned the Web for crochet patterns, and was sucked in by Ziggy Mosquito’s looks, especially her prominent proboscis. Plus, I could easily adapt this cute pattern by Marie Lize (2013) to the gauge, type, and color of the yarn I had handy. When the mosquito was finished I realized she would also be perfect to illustrate this short story.

             Knitted mosquito.

Author: Erica K Swift

I have written since I was an elementary school bookworm in Colorado. After college, I traveled to Northern Cyprus, Turkey, and Germany before discovering a home in Alaska. I have self-published children's books, am actively pursuing a publisher for my most recent set of books, and am continuing to write when I am not teaching at a local elementary school.