That walk from the front door to the kitchen – what, five seconds? Six or seven at the outside.
The Garda trails unwillingly in my wake, shoes squeaking on the linoleum.
This exquisite hiatus heralds the passing from one realm to another, a defining moment. Is it wrong to savour it?
I will him to hold his tongue, to leave me unknowing for a moment longer.
… seven… eight
“Tell me,” I say, turning.
He flushes dull red; he’s too young for this.
“There was this accident… an overloaded trailer… I’m very sorry…”
And there… welcome to my new life.
I decided to create a new response to my old prompt. Les Chiens de Guerre was a thin tale, looking back. Not that this has much fat on it either. 🙂 Thanks to Rochelle for her continued leadership of Friday Fictioneers. Click the froggies to see more.
castelsarrasin 
A wise insightful exploration of that moment of change, Sandra. I loved it
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Thanks for reading, Neil.
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Chilling.
New life with a horrid past. Am sure it will haunt.
Story- “Make Hay While The Sun Shines”- By Anita
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Thanks for reading, Anita.
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The moment of knowing-not knowing is perfectly described.
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Thanks for reading – yes, there have been moments like that. 🙂
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That moment when you desperately try to hold on to the “before”. Movingly told.
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Sometimes the urge to press the pause button is over-whelming, for both good and bad reasons.
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Dear Sandra,
A tragic “welcoming.” Life can change in a moment…a heartbeat…Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks for reading Rochelle. Life can indeed change in a heartbeat.
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Impeccable scribing.
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Many thanks Ain.
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Beautiful story of change. Lovely imagery.
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Many thanks.
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Wonderfully done, Sandra. That moment of knowing he is there for this type of reason but not wanting him to say it…
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Thanks Dale. Yes, it’s a moment when life and the future hangs in the balance. Thanks for reading.
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I can well imagine it, too.
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You described the dread leading up to hearing some unbearable truth very well.
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Many thanks, glad you liked it.
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You’re very welcome, Sandra.
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Beautiful story.. well written
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Many thanks. Glad you liked it.
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You know it’s coming. . . you hold it off. . . .but then you can’t, and the world changes forever. Well done.
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Just like that. Thanks Linda.
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Breath-taking for its force of nature, the strength in the so well-chosen words, the pauses scream of the forestalling and foreboding. Absolute perfection.
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Thanks for your lovely comment.
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There is both a deep sadness and a moment of release. The background of a suppressed existence freed by fate.
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Thanks for reading James.
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A moments pause between the past and future perfectly portrayed, Excellent.
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Many thanks, Keith.
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This story may not be meaty, Sandra, but it’s weighty with anticipation and tiny details that take us right there into your narrator’s heart.
Thanks for the photo, I hope you enjoy reading a new round of responses!
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Thanks for reading Jen.
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Aw shucks, Sandra. Good one. Sad 😦
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Many thanks, Trish.
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what do you know? the start of a new beginning perhaps?
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Or the end of something else.
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Those few moments where you know something has happened but you can still pretend, until it’s spoken out loud.
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Thanks for reading.
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The sudden change in life circumstances. No time to fear the inevitable… Somehow, it makes it seem easier… yet, not.
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Nothing you can do except go along with the events. Thanks for reading.
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I think this is wonderfully written. You leave me with the impression that although to the outside world this will seem a tragedy, for the protagonist it’s actually a longed-for outcome. Whether her motives are venal, or whether she’s a victim of abuse who is now set free we don’t know, but that doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you subvert our expectation of tragedy with such beautiful elegance.
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Thanks for your lovely comment, Penny. I was trying to strip all personal reaction out of the piece, so it wasn’t hampered by grief or relief, just the power (and futility) of the moment.
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Sandra,
A brilliant description of a portal in time and space, from one life to the next. Whether grief or relief is in play seems almost beside the point.
pax,
dora
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Many thanks for reading, Dora.
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Counting seconds, hoping time will freeze, just long enough, to accept or will to change the past as much as the future. When the police appear, the news is rarely good. Well told.
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Thanks for reading, Lorraine.
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A beautifully crafted story Sandra, I love the way it unfolds. I especially like the sentence which begins ‘the exquisite hiatus heralds…’
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