After the funeral it struck Doreen, that for the first time in her life, that she had choices.
So, after the endless sherry and sausage rolls, she locked the door, sloughed off the black, climbed in the car and drove.
And now she finds herself miles from where she started.
In a guest house.
Somewhere by the sea.
She lies in the narrow, too-soft bed and just lets herself roll around the words forming in her brain. Hears them tumble and chink like the pebbles on the beach.
Possibility, conundrum, options, decisions preference. Choice.
The walls of the guest house are suddenly dancing and alive with the wonderful words of freedom.
For up until now her life, has been a web of a series of things she has been obliged to open.
Eyes, mind, doors, arms, legs, heart.
From now on, Doreen decides, she is closed.
Rachel Canwell is a writer and teacher living in Cumbria. Her debut flash collection Oh I do like to be was published by Alien Buddha in July 2022 and her Novella in Flash Magpie Moon by Kith Books in November 2023. She is currently working on her first novel.
‘Doreen in Room 3’ was first published in the flash collection Oh I do like to be, Alien Buddha Press, July 2022.
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