What Lies Beneath

By Sarah Wall

Blood oozed from Ellen’s finger as she anxiously bit it. Her mother’s vacant stare looked right through her to the clear water around the boat, a single tear squeezing out from her cold eyes.

Fake, Ellen knew.

Images of that night flashed in her head. She saw herself hiding behind the door, the broken glass covering the tiles, her mother’s glazed eyes and bloody hands. She heard her sister’s final shriek. The memory made her shiver.

Then, tasting the salt of tears on her lips, Ellen tipped the box over, and watched her beloved sister’s ashes float on the stagnant lake.