Drabble (100 word story)

Driving south on I-77. Stopping for gas in a typical little West Virginia town - a two lane road, railroad track, stream, and small houses in a tiny valley with tree cloaked mountain walls. An acrid scent fills the air.

Memories stir - of chasing ducks in the creek with cousins. A loving uncle's wonderful cornbread baked in an iron skillet. Catching crawdaddies, picking blackberries.Frozen custard. Spring houses. An old gentle mule. Family reunion picnics in the woods by the springs at the top of the hollow. Family. A long vanished slow placed lifestyle.

Childhood memories from the scent of coal.