STILL LIFE
The books, vase and shoes had adorned
Helen’s desk for so long that they became known as ‘the still life’.
Even after her husband William died,
as unobtrusively as he had lived, she met any suggestion to move them with an
obstinacy that intrigued her children while also exasperating them, so after
Helen’s own funeral they demolished the pile with almost indecent haste.
Pressed inside every indented section
of the book Lily discovered a faded rose, Henry tipped a champagne cork from
each shoe, and hidden inside the vase Georgina found a bundle of love-letters,
all signed, ‘Eternally
yours, George.’
.............................................................................
All that weight had to be crushing a secret, didn't it? Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers on her blog https://rochellewisoff.com/ and to Magaly Guerrero for her photograph of the lovely flamenco shoes.
If you enjoyed that story, check out a slightly longer one, also written to a visual prompt, and published on Friday on this site - http://visualverse.org/submissions/minotaur/
If you enjoyed that story, check out a slightly longer one, also written to a visual prompt, and published on Friday on this site - http://visualverse.org/submissions/minotaur/
