Randell Jones
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6-minute Stories

Everybody loves a good story
Listen to these 6-minute stories
from both new voices and experienced writers
from the Personal Story Publishing Project anthologies:
Bearing Up , Exploring , That Southern Thing , Luck & Opportunity,
Trouble , Curious Stuff , Twists and Turns , Sooner or Later , and Now or Never.
Copies of all 10 books in the series available here.
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"Alone in the Woods" by Suzanne Cottrell

 – A toddler’s missing. Can you help?

“Any sign of Connor?” We shake our heads.

 

Suzanne Cottrell, a member of Taste Life Twice Writers and NC Writers’ Network, lives with her husband in Granville County, NC. An outdoor enthusiast and retired teacher, she enjoys reading, writing, knitting, hiking, and Pilates. Her prose has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including the Personal Story Publishing Project, Inwood Indiana Press, Quillkeepers Press, and Parks and Points. She’s the author of three poetry chapbooks: Gifts of the Seasons, Autumn and Winter; Gifts of the Seasons, Spring and Summer; and Scarred Resilience and a hybrid book, Nature Calls Outside My Window, A Collection of Poems and Stories (Kelsay Books).

Author’s Talk

Suzanne Cottrell

When considering incidences for the Lost and Found anthology, I steered from the impact of lost objects and the pursuant search. What about lost animated objects? We acquired our pets, three stray young dogs, by chance. They found their way to our house in rural Granville County in central North Carolina, but I’d already written about Bear’s and Beau’s barks alerting our daughter to discover a trembling, whimpering puppy under one of our cars on a rainy Sunday night. 

As I brainstormed other ideas, the adage, “Dogs are a man’s best friend,” and the value of their protective instinct materialized. Once I have an idea for a piece, I jot down related terms and research more information.  In this case, the news headline, “Faithful Dog’s Bark Brings Searchers to Missing Toddler” came to the forefront. My family, along with hundreds of other volunteers, participated in the search for the toddler. 

Thanks to the Cummings’ golden retriever, Sandy, twenty-three-month-old Connor survived a 2007 June night in the woods a mile from his house. Strangers from as far away as Asheville supported our Goshen community’s search for the toddler. 

A continuing writing goal is for me to dig deeper and show more of the emotional impact. Besides recognizing the effort of over 250 strangers working together, I wanted my story to go beyond the physical search to portray my family’s emotional roller-coaster journey of anticipation, worry, fear, frustration, perseverance, hope, and ending with gratitude. 

Life can change in an instant. Fortunately, this situation had a happy ending. Regardless of an event’s outcome, I encourage folks to fill their lives with appreciation.—Suzanne Cottrell

Randell Jones