The Aftermath

(100-word flash fiction)

She sat down and hoisted her bruised legs onto the chair, HIS chair.  The welts were still visible.

The baby moved inside her in protest.

“Calm down, darling,” she cooed, caressing the bump, a bud waiting to spring forth.  “The storm has taken him. Forever.”

Fallen spring blossoms lay strewn around them like confetti.

“He can’t hurt us anymore. We will always be safe now.”

She felt a slight pressure under her palm. Parting her blouse, she stared down, there was the unmistakable indent of a tiny palm.

She gently lay her palm over it and high-fived her baby back.

---

My today’s portraiture client was a domestic violence survivor. She said she gave birth to her daughter with bruises on her body. Black-eyes were common. She still stayed for a few more years until she mustered the courage to leave. He walked out of their lives and never contacted his kids. Her eyes were beginning to well up. I had to divert her from unpleasant memories. I guess the above story is a bit of a real-life one.

Thank you Rochelle, for keeping up all going in these difficult times 🙂

 Photo prompt –

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

Click the floating frog to join. 

Blue or pink

(100-word flash fiction)

“Blue or pink?” Her outstretched palm holds two tiny, gleaming globes.

His pulse quickens. She is gazing at him with clouded eyes, her face impassive.

“I hope you’re not trying to kill me.” His laugh sounds fake.

He picks up the pink pill, drops it into his mouth. She does the same with the blue one.

Everything begins to get hazy, the world disappears in slow motion.

Through the haze, her voice cuts through, “I hope you don’t remember anything.”

The room rearranges itself around him, his room from 10 years ago.

Across an ocean, she gets off a bus.

—

Time travel, anyone?  I felt in these troubled times, a bit of magic realism would be fun. It’s good to be back. Hope everyone’s steering clear of the dreaded C virus and getting their shots. Thanks Rochelle, for helping keeping our creative juices flowing.

PHOTO PROMPT © David Stewart

Click on the Frog to join!