You always said the kitchen was our gathering place.
“Over fine food families are saved.”
We’ve finally begun washing away the smoke gathered on your plates. Odds and ends scavenged from charred remains gather dust among piles of bills. There’s a bill for every emotion it seems but our payment for grief falls short.
In your absence we gather under your favorite tree. We try to laugh but they burn our lungs on the way out, so we stand and pretend. Maybe we believe you’ll turn the corner, picnic basket in hand. Maybe if we just squint a little harder …
Word Count: 100
For Friday Fictioneers, many thanks to Rochelle for herding us in.
Kelley Farrell 
Damn, this is powerful!
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Thank you!
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I like it that you never tell us explicitly what happened
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Thank you Neil
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This was beautifully done, Kelley. Without knowing exactly what, we still feel the loss of the friend.
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Thank you!
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Over fine food families are saved–a bill for every emotion–The grief is so strong and well described, powerful writing.
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Thank you!
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Brilliantly done, Kelley. Bravo!
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Thank you Violet!
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There is pain in the story. Missing someone of the family. Mother, father, husband! Hoping against hope, he will show up.
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I think that hope always remains in some way. Thank you for reading
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Those final lines brought a lump to my throat!
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thank you for reading
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