Kim’s Loss

~ Sonya

Kim likes the house. She walks out on the porch and – BAM! – she’s sixteen again, repainting the balustrade.

She’d thought of Mom as weak, a push-over who did as Dad told her. But when she lessened Kim’s discomfort by offering lemonade, only to intensify it with her words, Kim understood she’d been wrong. Their relationship changed. She talked to Mom every day. Until the day when Mom didn’t pick up the phone – it happened that sudden.

The wind chimes jingle in the breeze. Kim shakes off the memories. She turns to the estate agent.

‘Sorry, it’s not for me.’

***

I used this week’s FFfAW photo prompt and today’s Writing 101 prompt – loss – for this. When I saw the photo, it reminded me of the porch Kim had to paint a while ago, so I brought her back.

Read all the FFfAW stories here.

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22 thoughts on “Kim’s Loss”

  3. Oh, I know that feeling- something just triggers a memory and you’re there again.
    I used to smell my Nan’s house from time to time- I think it might’ve been lino or coconut matting, something like that, and I was right back there, sitting on her step eating wedges of toast with real butter dripping through my fingers. I haven’t smelt that in years- I guess people have moved onto laminates and so on.
    Your story’s short but sad, stirs melancholy feelings we can all identify with.

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    1. My mother used to have a face cream with a distinct smell. Every now and again, I walk past someone who must use something similar. It takes me right back to being five years and brushing my teeth in the morning… Thanks, Lynn 🙂

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      1. These memories are so powerful, aren’t they? They pull a chord inside you. I remember realising that my Nan’s house, that held such strong memories and feelings for me as a child, now only existed in my head. The house still stands, but of course, the essence that made it ‘Nan’s’ has vanished. Obvious, but it shook me a little at the time.

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  4. A powerful story, Sonya. So many things can trigger memories. I’m intrigued as to how the mother died, but the open-ended finish works very well as it is. Well written. 🙂

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  7. Excellent writing Sonya. You said so much about the relationship between the mother and daughter in such a few words. I could feel the emotion Kim was feeling from the memories she was having of her mother. Very nice story!

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