Ruby Beads
Prompt words in red.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/clovermountain/2187375927
The blades are sharp.
So sharp the slash happens
almost without notice.
But she sees, and
with bewildered eyes
that look up to me,
her blood drips
into the pristine snow.
Ruby beads on cold
silent sparkling satin.
Sluggish reactions,
weak of heart,
her cries for help fail,
are frail.
The glow in her eyes,
so like the spark of fireflies,
fades,
dissolve into flat darkness.
Dead
she looks as weightless
as the desiccated moths
in the ceiling light fixture
of the room where we had lain together.
The day approaching
will not dawn for her.
I clumsily light up a smoke,
tossing the match in the snow near her pale hand.
So white
So cold.
It lands still alight;
I hear it sizzle as I turn and walk away,
humming to myself
as I check my gloves.
©2021 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved
Often writing such as this is difficult to admire despite the use of prompt words and a tale that might be understood if the reason for the victim's demise is better understood rather than think the narrator is a cruel and sadistic loony. But hey, you only used a few given words not of your choosing to comply with the website requirements!
ReplyDeleteThere's always one word that I struggle with, and this time it was "blades." I tried for ice skate blades, but just couldn't get finished. The reader is open to any motive they want for the murder! I don't think he's cruel or sadistic, I think he just wanted her dead, for his own personal reasons and perhaps to protect himself from something she knew.
DeleteA vivid scene - such crisp imagery..and good use of the prompt words
ReplyDeleteThank you. I was fortunate to find the photo of beads to go with it. One of actual blood drips on snow was a bit too gory for me!
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