Status Vulnerable
Her green eyes close and sleep follows. Her favourite time of day, or rather night.
At night she escapes her diagnosis, her ageing bones and the tang of disinfectant that pervades this ‘home’. At night she prowls the rocky terrain of her mind and inhabits it wholly. She likes to sleep more now. In sleep she is untroubled; unseen. She can follow the lavender scent of home and cuddle her babies once more.
In the waking hours, raised voices ask questions again and again. Yet no-one can answer her own. Where did Jack go? That’s all she wants to know.
I can see he isn’t here anymore, stop telling me that.
The rocks fragment and fall underfoot, she cannot find her way.
She wears a smile often, the only reassurance she knows how to offer. “I’m still here” it cries.
In sleep, she is all powerful; elusive like the snow leopard. Such strength and yet their status, vulnerable.
The mighty are not only those who roar.
Published Fiction: Homemade Lemon Shade – The Cabinet of Heed – March 2018
I have this system for getting exactly what I want out of people, and today I’m going to use it. I’m going to use it on a woman named Elizabeth, and she has no idea. I’m waiting now on the corner of her street. I can see her front door from here. It’s red and… Continue reading Published Fiction: Homemade Lemon Shade – The Cabinet of Heed – March 2018
Shatter the Silence – the Same Online Journal – Issue 12.1, August 2018
I remember peering around the doorway watching each plate shatter, splintering into a ceramic snowstorm at the hands of my mother. For some reason my memory has omitted the sound. I see her mouth open wide, her eyes and nose dripping. I see the droplets merging with the flying debris as she furiously throws her… Continue reading Shatter the Silence – the Same Online Journal – Issue 12.1, August 2018
The Whispering Woods & Let Me Go – The Sirens Call – Issue 42, Dec 2018
The Whispering Woods They told me not to go in there. Into the woods where the you-know-whats lurk. Huge hulks of brown fury, all claws and teeth and menace. They said terrible things would happen to me if I did. I weaved a finger into my locks as I listened, smiled and nodded. “No mama, no… Continue reading The Whispering Woods & Let Me Go – The Sirens Call – Issue 42, Dec 2018
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