He set his mug on the former family table near the one that was already there. Poured coffee in both and spooned a dried red-green spice mix into hers.
Her shivering hands gripped the other mug, skin sagging by the knuckles, nails long and intertwining. She spoke in tremorous tones through slack lips.
“She cannot come back.”
He lifted the mug, her hands locked around it, to her mouth to guide the potion in.
“Binding me . . . won’t bring her back.”
His heavy sigh could have broken glass. “You took her from me,” he muttered, “but you didn’t intend to stay?”
This flash fiction story was written for Loren Eaton’s Advent Ghost Storytelling.
Oh, this one’s REALLY interesting. The imagery is stupendous. Is there a fae reference in here?
Thank you. I didn’t deliberately include a fae reference, but how do you see it? The woman abducted or killed his wife/daughter/mother and he has caught her and bound her as the only judgement he can hold her to.
Ah, I see! I got hung up on the word “binding,” and my mind went to supernatural places.
Love it. Nice and dark, Phil.
Yes, that’s where I was thinking too.
So neat how you’ve used description to capture the characters. Well done!
I concur with the previous posters. Very well done, Phil.
Thanks, Kel. I like yours as well. You had another one about a dog next to a dying man’s bed. Kudos there. It’s moving.