Thumbnail image from Pixabay
Are you an aspiring writer, poet or artist? Or maybe you want to try your hand at any of the above? We want to share your art! Read directions on how to submit your creative work below:
For submissions: Send your short story or poem (150 words or less) or a photo of your artwork to Rebecca.Fending@lifestylesafter50.com with the words “Creative Corner” in the subject line. Please include which Florida city you currently live in to ensure that your work will be published in your local edition. Artwork must be before the 15th of every month, otherwise it will be held as potential news for the following issue’s publication. Include your name, phone number and address. Work is published on a basis of what space is available.
Creative Corner Submissions for September
Untitled by Linda Tait
He doesn’t know why he is alone Last night this was a home But now he is all alone Because, they are gone It was nice to be loved Petted and hugged Now it's all over Just because Life is cruel Life is wrong And as a rule It is no song Why did they leave me Here all alone When all I wanted Was a home

“Little Tyke, Billy, Pet Detective” by Ann Marie of Englewood
Little Tyke, Billy, was coming home from school. He noticed a dog lying under a van in a store parking lot. It was a hot day and the dog looked scruffy from oil spots on his back, and he was panting from the heat. Billy got him some water and the dog drank it right up. A local neighbor said he had been there all day and no one knew who it belonged to. She called the police at noontime. An officer came out and approached the dog but he started running away. He told us they had been looking for this dog for three days, but had not been successful in catching him. At suppertime, the little tyke went back outside and noticed the dog was back, lying under the van again. This time he called Animal Control. They said he would have to wait until tomorrow until they could assign an officer to come and get the dog. Little Tyke had finished supper and thought maybe the dog was hungry, too. He scooped up the rest of his hamburger and put it on a paper plate. Very cautiously, he approached the dog who was whimpering and growling, but could not be coached out from under the van. Little Tyke had an idea (just like a Pet Detective would think of), he started throwing small pieces of hamburger toward him, each time just a little bit closer to where he was sitting on the lawn. He started singing “How Much Was That Doggie in the Window.” Slowly the small dog started coming out. When he got close enough, he grabbed the leash and very gently began to walk the dog around the parking lot and into his house. He called the police again, telling them he saw an identification tag on his collar. When the officer came out, he said, “In, boy,” and the dog jumped right in the back seat of his cruiser. The officer told him “Thank you son, I could have never gotten him in without you. I don’t usually carry a hamburger with me.” The owner picked up the dog the next day and both of them were very happy to be rejoined. Little Tyke, Billy, a great Pet Detective, was the happiest of them all.

BEWARE. . . BEAR SCARE by Sandi Gajewski of Clearwater
Don’t go outside Don’t you leave your home Don’t even take out the trash Cuz you may not be alone! He’s lurking somewhere out there And maybe he’s a she, this bear Either way, it has been sighted And more than once, I’m not delighted! And if you see it, don’t you dare run Don’t you play dead, don’t climb a tree Or you just might end up his lunch And that would not be good, you see. So stay inside where you are safe For with a bear you cannot race. If you see it stop! And don’t dare stare But slowly get your butt on outta there! Beware da bear!