28 responses

  1. Karen Brier
    May 4, 2020

    Lovely. I like to think that in some parallel reality, you are still circling, still kissing, still touching.

    Reply

  2. Darlene Morse
    May 4, 2020

    Thank you for showing this glimpse of beauty in an uncertain world. The fly. The rain. The ocean waves. The love. Eloquence.
    I am soon to begin chemo and in every moment I see beauty and a bit of terror. But isn’t this true for us all? Even the small fly.

    Reply

  3. Jan Barry
    May 4, 2020

    I love the musical fly observing the exquisite scene amid the brevity of life.

    Reply

  4. Kathy
    May 4, 2020

    I live near Anna Maria Island — this short essay is lovely. The spelling Anna Marie is a typo?

    Reply

  5. Nancy McGlasson
    May 4, 2020

    Lovely. My sympathies for your loss. The idea of the fly holding all those images of the two of you is breathtaking . Now that’s an amazing writer — someone who an make me see a fly as part of a breathtaking universes and life process.

    Reply

  6. Nancy McGlasson
    May 4, 2020

    Lovely. My sympathies for your loss. The idea of the fly holding all those images of the two of you is breathtaking . Now that’s an amazing writer — someone who can make me see a fly as part of a breathtaking universe and life process.

    Reply

  7. miriam o’neal
    May 4, 2020

    I will never look at a housefly in quite the same way. Such a sad but beautiful evocation of a moment in time.

    Reply

  8. Molly Fisk
    May 4, 2020

    How beautifully you weave the fabric of understanding, Brian. Thank you.

    Reply

  9. Laura
    May 4, 2020

    Beautiful essay. The horses remind me of The Last Unicorn, where Amalthea drives the bull into the sea, allowing all the other unicorns trapped in the waves to escape.

    Reply

  10. Pam Parker
    May 4, 2020

    So, so beautiful! Thank you for this.

    Reply

  11. Pam Parker
    May 4, 2020

    So, so beautiful. Moments crystallized in stunning details. Thank you for this.

    Reply

  12. Karen Douglass
    May 4, 2020

    Beautifully done, Brian. Thanks to the editors smart enough to appreciate it.

    Reply

  13. Terry Godbey
    May 5, 2020

    Lovely piece, Brian. Thank you.

    Reply

  14. Rebecca Gummere
    May 9, 2020

    Poignant and sweet and deeply evocative. Thank you for a lovely read. So very sorry for the loss of your love.

    Reply

  15. Phyllis
    May 10, 2020

    So very lovely.

    Reply

  16. Melanie Kallai
    May 11, 2020

    Beautiful. Moving. Thank you for this piece. I grew up very near Anna Maria Island, got married there, and it was the favorite place of my best friend, who recently died from cancer. You touched my heart today.

    Reply

  17. Todd Nelson
    May 17, 2020

    I’m sad for your loss, Brian, and pray you find hope and peace as you grieve. I found BrevityMag.com through someone’s Creative Writing syllabus. The title of your story caught my attention. It’s where my parents from Lakeland, FL spent their honeymoon in June 1960. My mother, now 80 and alone, lives up the coast in Port Richey. And I’m teaching English lit and writing in Hanoi, Vietnam. Blessings.

    Reply

  18. Diane Gage
    May 19, 2020

    The heart that wrote this, your heart, is destined to love again, it can’t help itself it’s such a very awake heart.
    And on it goes …

    Reply

  19. Jen knodle
    May 26, 2020

    So beautiful. To have this kind of love..one gift..to be able to express it so eloquently, another.

    Reply

  20. Jenna Makins
    June 10, 2020

    The love story as seen through the eyes of the fly was very interesting and beautiful. Your feelings were very evident through your writing and it was very moving. I really enjoyed reading this.

    Reply

  21. Adam Zigner
    June 13, 2020

    This is a beautiful piece. I can feel the love that must have been in that beach house but also the sorrow that you must feel now. I’m very sorry for your loss but thank you so much for sharing this piece.

    Reply

  22. Sharon B
    June 20, 2020

    I came to this website because I wanted to read excellent examples of flash nonfiction and I found one. If I ever can learn to write in this genre, I hope to write as well as you.

    Reply

  23. Marta
    June 30, 2020

    To be allowed into the window of this piece was stunning, thank you, Brian.

    Reply

  24. Rebecca Evans
    July 12, 2020

    This morning, like every Sunday, I rise and recite my blessings and then turn to the Sunday Shorts from Creative Nonfiction. Today, the offering entranced me, shook me, woke me and, now, a few hours later, it still lingers in me, this beautiful meditation by my mentor, teacher, and friend, Brian Turner.

    I sat with this piece two months ago when it was first published in Brevity Magazine.

    If you have a few minutes to read and a lifetime to carry its impact, it is well worth it.

    Reply

  25. Amanda Beck
    August 18, 2020

    Incredible story and a beautiful way of telling it. I’m honored for this to have been my first read in the Brevity magazine, in online publications, and in non-fiction entirely. Thank you, Brian, for sharing this piece of your heart with us.

    Reply

  26. Cassandra Hamilton
    September 1, 2020

    Soulful. I like how you weaved the fly and information on flies as you shared about this sacred time with your love now gone. May she meet you in dreams, riding horses – and may you remember them.

    Reply

  27. michelle morouse
    September 5, 2020

    This is as remarkable as your poetry. I’m sorry for your loss.

    Reply

  28. Nate LaPole
    January 7, 2021

    As I am currently planning my wedding this essay has me appreciating all the little things about my fiancé I take for granted and wouldn’t want to live without. I’m sorry for your loss.

    Reply

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