Saturday 24 June 2017
'This Fractured Night' by Debbi Voisey
This is not a dream. You are awake.
The noises are still in your head and you have the blood on your shirt from when you helped the young girl. Some of this might even be your own. You go to the hospital where people are milling in their hundreds.
Everything inside is in slow motion. You watch people make calls, some sitting on floors, some shirtless. Some swiping tears with grubby hands and saying "I don't know, I don't know" into their phones.
Outside, this fractured night is limping towards morning.
Everyone wants to give; to have their blood taken to try to put some of this back the right way up. You see people of all ages and you don't notice their race. Their blood is the same colour.
You hand your form in as two more ashen faced parents are led behind a screen.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2024 Wigleaf Longlisting
Huge congratulations to Lisa Alletson whose 2024 FlashFlood piece, ' Translucent ' made the Wigleaf Top 50 longlist! You can read th...
-
I know it is Sunday morning because the paper lands on the driveway with a louder thud, masala chai whispers underneath the door, and the so...
-
We are delighted to nominate the following 2023 FlashFlood stories to the Best Small Fictions Anthology: ' I Once Swallowed a Rollercoas...
-
We are delighted to nominate the following FlashFlood stories to the 2023 Pushcart Prize: ' The Doll House ' by Nathan Alling Long &...
The nightmare no-one wants to experience. Splendid imagery of a tragedy here, Debbi. Fabulous job.
ReplyDeleteA sore one, but a good one - well done, Debbi.
ReplyDelete