Photo Prompt © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
He left and darkness fell.
For days she hid, reluctant to share the news. Plates collected in the sink, bags of rubbish gathered by the door. She ignored the red light flashing on the telephone. The candles she burned did not mask the smells of stale food and unwashed body. Her flat became a temple of the lost forever.
One day the pain ebbed a little, and she opened the window for air before returning to her nest on the settee. The twittering song of a visiting finch filled the silence. She opened her eyes, ready for the new day.
A shout out to the amazing Rochelle at http://www.rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com. She organises the photo prompts and links for the Friday Fictioneers.
Authors write a piece of 100 word fiction, prose or poetry based on a photo prompt and exchange comments on each other’s work. If you are a writer of short fiction, join in and let your imagination feed us with your stories.
I liked the finch. The coming of a spring
Thanks Neil. The ups in life that follow the downtime.
Dear Lindy,
I loved the uplifting ending. You captured a mountain of despair in just a few words. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle. And thank you for your hard work running this group.
I love that she seems to be at the end of her grieving and is ready to move forward. Bit by bit.
Thanks Dale. Bit by bit is how I deal with my downtimes.
That’s the best. Way better than standing still…
Grief is a horrible place to find oneself in. I’m so happy she breathed the first chance she got.
Thanks Magaly. I appreciate your comments
We actually had similar stories, but the recovery in mine was very different.
I like the gradual process of her recovery. Poor thing but it sounds like she will move on
Accomplished description of love lost, and life rediscovered.
I do enjoy a good heartbreak!
Thanks for your great feedback.
The first line broke my heart. I loved the bird signally her rebirth.
Thank you for letting me know that my story touched you. I appreciate your feedback.
Sinking into depression like this and managing to work herself out of it again is uplifting and hopeful. And now she better get a shower. 🙂
Ha ha. Of course. Time to hit the makeup.
The finch at the end is great, such a small thing heralding a new dawn.
Thank you. I love the arrival of birdsong.
I really liked the sentence “Her flat became a temple of the lost forever”. That created a really perfect mental image.
Thanks for your comments. I appreciate them.
Thank heavens she opened the window.
Missed your opening line the first read through. Sigh when I got the premise. Well done
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I see what you mean, our stories have a similar theme. Loved yours 🙂
Finally!! I’m so glad she was ready for the day… A great ending or rather a beginning! Loved it.
Good things come with spring. Great story.
☺