Happiness. It's relative.
Posted on April 4, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
“My birthday was on Easter once when I was a little girl.” “I know. You’ve told that story before.” “It’s a good story to tell, so you should just listen again. Be a nice person.” “Fine. Tell me.” “I was very little and we… Continue Reading “100 Word Story: Soft Feet”
Category: 100 Word Stories
Posted on March 21, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
It has been nearly six full months of winter. The cozy and snug part of winter has diminished as hunkering down fatigue grows. Continually grey skies and leafless trees suck the life out of the most cheerful folks. I would be one of those… Continue Reading “The Sun Changes Everything”
Category: WritingTags: spring, UW-Waukesha Field Station
Posted on March 17, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
Unbelievably, his name was Bart. He wore cowboy boots and carried a guitar. He smiled a lot but didn’t sing or strum. None of that. When the train pulled into to Laramie, he gathered his things. I played a game in my head where… Continue Reading “100 Word Story: Strum”
Category: 100 Word StoriesTags: dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1880
Posted on March 11, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
I am becoming overwhelmed by extreme pluck. Today’s megadose came by way of Cindy Abbot who decided to cope with a diagnosis of a super rare and potentially fatal disease by climbing Mt. Everest and then doing the Iditarod sled dog race, thereby becoming the… Continue Reading “Stop with the Rope Pushing”
Category: WritingTags: Iditarod, sled dog racing
Posted on February 22, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
I started a writing group at a local senior center. At our last meeting (which was also our first), I asked everyone to write a 100-word story for our meeting tomorrow. To get prepared, I looked at my own inventory of 100-word stories and… Continue Reading “Brevity is Beautiful: Tell a Story in 100 Words”
Category: 100 Word Stories
Posted on February 10, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
Just eat all the pretzels and be done with it. All the equivocation, rationing, using the tiniest bowls – end it! The pretzels won’t stop tapping you on the shoulder every time you walk past the cupboard unless you get rid of them. All… Continue Reading “Writing the Pretzel Way”
Category: Writing
Posted on February 6, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
Winter’s wettest spit Windshield wipers frozen chop Thin hope revival _____________________ Photo by Aleksi Partanen on Unsplash
Category: haikuTags: dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1840
Posted on February 4, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
BowWow: Jesus H. I feel like I’m riding in a semi, here. A big nut size Bulldog. Hey, smart guy in front, what’s our handle, see any Smokies up there? Give us the word, Good Buddy. Minnie: Don’t bother him. He’s trying to drive… Continue Reading “Minnie and BowWow’s First Road Trip in the New Truck”
Category: WritingTags: Minnie and BowWow, road trip, road trips in a truck, Talking Dogs
Posted on January 27, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
I belong to a writing workshop that has a Monday morning Zoom check-in. It is a small group of about a dozen writers, most of them fiction writers, many of them published, and a couple of them famous. I have brief bouts of feeling… Continue Reading “Sometimes You Just Take Notes”
Category: Writing
Posted on January 13, 2026 by Jan Wilberg
[This is a piece from 2013 which I read to my writing group today. It was good for a few laughs which we all needed. ‘It’s not literature,’ as a snooty friend of mine would say, but I don’t care. I like stories where… Continue Reading “The T-Rex, the Woodchuck and the Wildebeest”
Category: WritingTags: bully, bullying, The Nonprofit Bully


What happens here on Red's Wrap is all over the map. There is no single theme, no overarching gripe, no malady of my own or others that dominates. I write about what seems important or interesting at the moment and what aims me toward hope. I write stories, essays, poems - whatever fits the day and the mood. Nothing stays the same, here or anywhere. That's a good thing. Happiness. It's relative.
(c) Janice Wilberg and Red’s Wrap (2010-2026). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author/owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janice (Jan) Wilberg and Red’s Wrap with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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