Junk – Six Sentence Story

Jeff looked at the cracked mug he found among his father’s possessions after the funeral. He recalled how its glaze brought to his mind calm waters under a blue sky when he saw his father drinking from it.

Wondering why his father had not thrown it away as useless junk long ago Jeff took the mug home and set it on his desk to hold pens. Decades later that’s more or less where it still sat charged with the duty of caring for odds and ends.

As Jeff reached his own last days he explicitly put the mug on a list of items that his son would inherit with an explanation that although the mug no longer served its original purpose it was something his grandfather drank from. Besides, it still made a great place to put pens and it had a beautiful glaze like calm waters under a blue sky.

Denise offers the word “junk” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

When I think of junk I think of the junkyard of Gehenna and the yearning that we, broken as we are, should all have to be saved, salvaged, born again, so we may be found useful once more.

GirlieOnTheEdge Denise Farley's six-sentence-stories icon
GirlieOnTheEdge Denise Farley’s six-sentence-stories icon
Sunrise of Techny Prairie Park in Northbrook, Illinois

Author: Frank Hubeny

I enjoy walking, poetry and short prose as well as taking pictures with my phone.

47 thoughts on “Junk – Six Sentence Story”

  3. Something like passing the peace from generation to generation, a reminder that simple things can contain larger truths, as you comment at the end. Wonderful story.
    Pax,
    Dora

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Great inter-generational connection. We all could use more of them. I recently lost my father’s high school ring. It fell off my finger somehow. My sister gave me his 25 year service pin (with a diamond) from where he worked and retired from. The company went bankrupt. It is a little thing but means a lot and helps me connect.

    Blessings for the great story!

    Liked by 1 person

  11. What an excellent Six.
    Engaging (of course) but with a certain peacefulness.*

    *not a combination that is easy to achieve in such a brief format as our Six Sentence

    Liked by 1 person

  15. That’s a superb Illinois sunrise photo. I like the use of the cracked mug for keeping pens and odds and ends. Same here, I think there’s a mug in each room holding pens and pencils – it’s the perfect container for these things.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Beautiful Six, Frank. Funny how something as simple as a coffee mug holds so much emotion – “He recalled how its glaze brought to his mind calm waters under a blue sky when he saw his father drinking from it.” Hopefully, Jeff’s son will one day appreciate it in a similar way.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Those simple mementos are often the best.

      I loved your story, Mimi! It told everything in one complaint about someone throwing away what belonged to someone else.

      Like

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