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101 Word Short Stories

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A Work Unfinished

October 16, 2022 10 Comments

By Roger Woodcock

The water bubbles and cascades across the rocks, spraying a shimmer of mist into the cool evening air. He watches a butterfly skip from flower to flower, vivid flashes of its gossamer wings caught in the last rays of the sun. Soon it will be time to leave, to pack his easel and paints and drive back into the city. He studies his canvas. Her cheeks blush as she smiles back at him, wistfully, their tiny infant cradled in her arms. Would he ever finish them and hang them together in the unfinished nursery like he always promised her he would?

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Max G. says

    October 16, 2022 at 1:07 am

    Painfully beautiful that takes your breath away!

    Reply
  2. Howard Dart Humeston says

    October 16, 2022 at 8:44 am

    Sad but powerful and well written.

    Reply
  3. Scott says

    October 16, 2022 at 9:37 am

    Beautiful work.

    Reply
  4. Derek says

    October 16, 2022 at 12:03 pm

    Yes it is a sad story but very well told.

    Reply
  5. JK Hayward-Trout says

    October 17, 2022 at 12:11 am

    Hang them together… sounds Steven King like. Is this a start of a novel? Could be provocative.

    Reply
  6. James B. Revell says

    October 17, 2022 at 7:30 am

    Very evocative…..

    Reply
  7. Valli Henry-Boldini says

    October 17, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    Chapeau…

    Reply
  8. Yogita says

    October 19, 2022 at 9:12 am

    Beautiful

    Reply
    • Cathryn says

      October 19, 2022 at 12:26 pm

      Hello,
      Hooked me at the first words!

      Splendid work.

      I do have a suggestion (take it as is your wont, but kindly offered).

      Would he finish the portrait? Would his painting ever hang in the unfinished nursery like he always promised her?

      Reply
  9. Doug Jacquier says

    October 19, 2022 at 2:03 pm

    Interesting idea that deserves longer treatment.

    Reply

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