She waited as he wasted away.
She watched and pined. He watched as well; sometimes TV, sometimes her.
She fed him hand-to-mouth. Eventually he refused to eat. As he grew thinner, the drip in his arm pulsed like a marathon runner, sucking exhausted breaths as it neared the finish line.
He smiled painfully. She did, too.
She cried when he slept–never when he was awake. Her tears fell gently on the back of his hand, where they ran off the edge in random segues before fading away with nary a whisper.
She knew when the day arrived. There was no announcement, no symbolic continuous beep on the machine, like on TV. She just knew. So did he.
They held hands.
She waited as he went away.
If you would like to read more of my flash fiction, click here.
Cheers
Steve 🙂
🖤
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🙂
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The subject ‘finished’ comes about pretty good with the right emotions. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks so much! Thanks for commenting 🙂
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I love how you play with your words, short but well- delivered. I can feel it, sad..
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Thanks! I like to try and use imaginative metaphors and similes. They don’t always work, but when they do… 🙂
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I know the feeling. When they work it’s like 🙌
And you begin to feel like a badass when it becomes mind-blowing
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…and then I write something awful and it brings me back to reality lol 😉
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Lol.. That’s true
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I tried to be there when both my parents passed, but this moment you write about seems very rare I find. Most people are either away when death happens or find out about it later. Makes me wonder.
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You’re right, it’s a rare opportunity to be present when a cancer sufferer, or anyone who’s dying, passes. But when a person spends the last few days with their loved one they get an opportunity to truly say goodbye. That’s something most of us may never get. I hope you liked the piece, anyway. 🙂
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I did. I’m finding that I prefer to be on WordPress.com than have my own domain on a webhost as you can connect with other blogs. It creates a means for me to keep writing as well.
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Same here. Sustaining my writing was my main reason for starting a blog 🙂
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You write beautifully. I’m really happy when I encounter such level of creativity
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Thank you. It’s part of my new life. If I’m not good at it then I’m failing myself. Sometimes I write crap. Sometimes I write well. I just have to make sure the ‘wells’ outnumber the ‘craps’ lol 🙂
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Great work!
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Thank you! Much appreciated 🙂
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I’ve got my flash fiction as well. 😊
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That’s awesome! I’ll check it out 🙂
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Thanks. But I so love yours!
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Thank you so much 🙂
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I hate how it ends. 😖
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Not all my stories are sad. Some have happier endings. In some ways this did, too—they both got to be together at the end. Many people never get that chance. 🙂
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It’s just that I am not used with this departure. She may have known it that it will come but that hurts a lot.
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I agree. The pain of losing someone you love is devastating. 😞
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Totally devastating.
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Loved it! I am in awe at the timing of this, my grandfather passed away this morning and my grandmother has Alzheimer’s. She remembers him and forgets him. The rare moments of her pain is heart wrenching.
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Thank you. My deepest condolences to you for your loss. I’m so sorry for you grandmother, Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease. 😞
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🙏
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Amazing!! ❤
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Thanks, Virgina! 🙂
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So much pain…I can relate. My brother in place of her and my mom in place of hum. .. straight to heart.😢
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Thanks for sharing, I’m happy you were touched by this piece. 🙂
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I really am. Thankyou
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