They face each other across a small, ornate cast iron table in a secluded courtyard.
Birds sing, plants rustle in a breeze.
On the air is it Lilac? If not, some other flower blooming, broadcasting life.
“It didn’t work,” he says.
Simple words.
Her head drops, hands covering her face.
“I’m sorry,” he adds. He pushes the chair with a scrape against the brick pavement.
She doesn’t look up, but she hears his footsteps retreating, ascending stairs, disappearing into nothingness.
She is alone.
She dreams of espresso, a plate of biscuits, the sounds of others.
But it will not be.
It’s up to you to fill in the blanks for today’s short story. I only saw the stage for an important, short conversation! Have a great day everyone! Best, Clare
A prompt is just that, a nudge, sometimes gentle, sometimes explosive! For a writer whose imagination is primed, saturated, leaking even, a prompt is a welcome invitation to create. Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff’s Friday Fictioneers, we have a photo prompt courtesy of Rowena Curtin. Hop over to Rochelle’s blog to read a book’s worth of 100 word stories from the same prompt.
Clare Graith 