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101 Word Short Stories

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Ash

August 18, 2024 15 Comments

By Hugh Cartwright

Though desolate at his bedside, she wore her brightest clothes.

“Be happy,” he whispered. “Take me to the places we loved. Burnish your memories. Our memories.”

So she took him to the Trevi fountain in Rome, St Mark’s Square in Venice, the Latin Quarter in Paris. She sipped wine in the Ljubljana sunshine, dug her toes into the sand at Les Sables-d’Olonne, cruised Norwegian fjords; a little less of him with her each day.

At every stop, tears flowed as old emotions surfaced, more vivid, yet more comforting as the days passed.

And then the urn was empty. Only memories remained.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary says

    August 18, 2024 at 10:05 am

    Wonderful story so well written.

    Reply
    • Hugh Cartwright says

      August 21, 2024 at 7:11 pm

      Thank you so much Mary.

      Reply
  2. Cathryn says

    August 18, 2024 at 10:28 am

    Hello Hugh,
    Poignant! Well done in 101 words.

    Reply
    • Hugh Cartwright says

      August 21, 2024 at 7:12 pm

      Thank you Cathryn.

      Reply
  3. Yolanda Joosten says

    August 18, 2024 at 12:44 pm

    Beautiful and touching story.

    Reply
    • Hugh Cartwright says

      August 21, 2024 at 7:17 pm

      Thank you; your generous comment means a lot to me.

      Reply
  4. Tom says

    August 18, 2024 at 9:00 pm

    Well done, Hugh, for a beautiful and touching story.

    Reply
    • M says

      August 19, 2024 at 3:16 pm

      A lovely story that tugs at one’s heart strings.

      Reply
    • Hugh Cartwright says

      August 21, 2024 at 7:13 pm

      Thank you Tom. Though not about me personally, the story is based on a real sequence of events.

      Reply
  5. Jane B Hirschhorn says

    August 21, 2024 at 12:00 pm

    A moving story, vividly portrayed in the outlines of a life. Well done!

    Reply
  6. Deborah Sale-Butler says

    August 21, 2024 at 12:10 pm

    My favorite line “a little less of him with her each day. . .”

    Reply
    • Hugh Cartwright says

      August 21, 2024 at 7:16 pm

      Thank you for your kind comment. As you will have guessed the “little less..each day” is meant to be both literal (as the urn is gradually emptied) and emotional (in terms of her gradual recovery from loss).

      Reply
  7. Ramona Taylor says

    August 21, 2024 at 8:52 pm

    Thanks for this lovely story. I love the last line so true.

    Reply
  8. Elizabeth Jane Hilton says

    August 24, 2024 at 3:50 am

    So real and so true. Beautiful. Thank you.

    Reply
  9. Ed Kratz says

    August 24, 2024 at 8:27 am

    Sad and lovely.

    Reply

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