PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot
Sunset’s Scarecrow by Kelvin M. Knight
I know what I’m looking at but what am I expected to see?
Whatever you need to, darling.
A cloudy sea. Shadows. Orange tinges.
She hugged my arm. Nothing else?
If you want me to see atmosphere, emotion, you know I cannot.
How about hope, my darling?
Her voice was silky soft. Silent, I watched her tug my arm.
Darling?
Hope you say? Sure! There’s an orange-tinged shadowy hope writhing over you, clawing you, digging that disease out of you. Happy?
Red-eyed, she collapsed into my arm. Hold me, handsome my handsome, promise you’ll never let me go.
(100w)
FridayFictioneers
We are a bunch of enthusiastic amateur and professional writers from across the globe who love drabble-sized flash fiction so much we share our little masterpieces with one another for commenting, critiquing and enjoyment. Our stories are based on a weekly photo prompt co-ordinated by our most gracious of hostesses, Rochelle.
If you would like to join in, please do. If you would like to read the other fine writers’ efforts, please click la’al blue froggy.
Kelvin M. Knight 
Beautifully heartbreaking, Kelvin. It is never easy to let another loved one go. And I love that meme you added. It is so true.
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So glad you enjoyed my story and found truth in my meme. Great to hear from you, Dale. 😎
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😊
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I felt the sadness and hopelessness. So sad for those around him.
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Sadness does tend to bleach hopelessness, doesn’t it. Thanks for commenting Luccia.
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Interesting character.
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Thank you, Dawn. I do try to make my characters interesting as well as believable and unusual.
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Beautifully touching.
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Thank you, Sarah Ann. So glad you saw the beauty here.
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Hope versus the anguish of impending loss. Hard to endure, hard to describe–but you’ve described it so well that one could believe you have experienced it.
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Ahh thank you, Linda. Making stories believable, credible, and moving is my aim. Thank you.
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I could feel his anguish, and I think he’s afraid to hope too. Seeing as though they will eventually be dashed in the not too distant future.
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Thanks Fatima. It’s difficult to hold on to hope when like sand it drips through your fingers.
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How terrible that his bitterness at impending loss should paralyse his ability to comfort her. And still she clings to him, and still she hopes for oneness with him. You’ve written such a sad and powerful piece, Kelvin.
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Thanks, Penny. He so want to comfort her. In some small way. But you’re right, he is paralysed. Thank you for getting my story so completely.
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Tragic tale. Both are looking to the other for hope and some glimpse of encouragement…. Beautiful Kelvin.
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Exactly, FluidPhrase. Perhaps together they might find that encouragement. Thank you for reading and commenting.
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Hey Fluid Phrases, thanks for seeing the beauty in this painful story. That is a real gift.
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A very powerful piece, Kelvin. I felt his emotions were right on the mark and well-expressed.
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Thank you, Sascha. Most kind of you to say so. 🙂
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Wow that was a punch to the gut. I felt his despair.
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Thanks llofadog. Hope the ribs aren’t too sore 😉
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Hopefully they can both come to terms somehow, or when the end comes it will be very tough for him. Good to find small pleasures together while you can, though easier said than done. Sad tale Kelvin
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Sadness is such a powerful emotion, Lynn, which hope often lifts. But, if it doesn’t, as you quite rightly point out, there is going to be trauma. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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My total pleasure 🙂
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Brutally sad tale, well done.
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I decided it was time to be brutal, C.E. But now I have, I am not sure why.
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I think it’s often the way that the one who’s ill comes to terms with it more readily than those who love them. Nice one!
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Love is letting go, as some wise person told me once.
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Oh, so many people have been lead? dragged? into such a situation. Each person must deal with it as best they can. You showed that well, Kelvin.
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Thank you, Lish. We all react how we react. For sure. Tragedy brings out the real us.
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But isn’t the one letting go the one who is ill?
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Yes. Indeed, Alice.
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Dear Kelvin,
Each of us deal with tragedy in our own ways. Heartbreaking piece. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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We do indeed, Rochelle. Tragedy brings out the worst in us, the best in us, the real us. 😉
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Full of sad emotion. Tinged with a little hope. Nicely done.
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Thank you, Sir. Hopefully it felt real.
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For you.
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They both do not win by trying to be brave. Sometimes, it’s ok to be weak.
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A very impotence point, Varad. Thanks for reading spotting that point and commenting. Perhaps in his moment of weakness he will find strength for her and himself? 🤔
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Impotence in above comment, Varad, should be important 😳
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I’m not sure he’s being a great deal of help to her. But then I’m not sure that anyone can be under the circumstances I’m visualising. Nicely done
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By being there he is, Sandra. She is desperate for more as she knocks on deaths door. But he’s become frozen by fear.
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Seems as if he’s blunted his emotions in preparation for the worst.
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He has indeed. But she encouraged him, as she always does.
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Looks like he can see emotion and atmosphere after all
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There is hope for him yet
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A sad tale, I could feel his hopelessness. Nicely done.
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Sometimes you have to confront that hopelessness to find a way forward… or not…
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