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101 Word Short Stories

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The Missing Words of a Dying Man

December 29, 2023 5 Comments

By Meghan Proulx

Far from Bordeaux, a hamlet straddles a river. A woman lives there in a room in the house of a dying man.

In the mornings she cooks him porridge and wipes the dribble from his chin.

In the afternoon she sneaks into his library. She takes sheets of time-stained notes from a drawer in the oak desk where he once sat.

In the evening she copies his words, and the distant coughing never distracts her.

At night she drops his notes into the river. The black ink blooms across the sodden sheets as his unpublished words sink to the stoney bottom.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tim Goldstone says

    December 30, 2023 at 11:33 am

    Great piece of poetic writing.

    Reply
    • Meghan Proulx says

      December 30, 2023 at 3:47 pm

      Thanks Tim! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Hamza says

    January 3, 2024 at 9:20 am

    Dark, deep, brooding, mischievous – with a masterful twist – thanks for transporting us.

    Reply
    • Meghan Proulx says

      January 4, 2024 at 4:44 pm

      ah! thanks so much Hamza

      Reply
  3. Bryan Ross says

    January 13, 2024 at 2:32 pm

    How sad. So many unanswered questions. Great job!

    Reply

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