The dog trotted onto the frozen pond to fetch an errant stick. That is how I picture it, at least. The boy trudging along the snow packed shore. The arc of the stick against crystalline sky. The dog tracking its path, eager paws scrambling. The bounce of the stick—once, twice—spinning and spinning. The dog’s oblivious disregard of depth and strength and gravity. I picture the boy’s measured steps forward, hands outstretched like the blind. Imagine the plunge into needle-fingered cold. Heavy boots. Heavy coat.
Later, the dog came back alone. Sodden and shivering, fracturing our lives like ice.
Kathleen Latham is a poet and writer living outside of Boston, Massachusetts. A Highly Commended winner of the Bridport Prize for flash fiction, her work has recently appeared in The Ilanot Review, New Flash Fiction Review, The Masters Review, Fictive Dream, and others.
'When the Solid Gives Way' was previously published in 100 Word Story, September 4, 2021.
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