The Parlour (a first short story)

5 years had breathed by.


The dwarfed bell whimpered a chime as the door swung open; some places never change. Or perhaps she had.

Audrey shrugged off her coat and stepped towards the counter. The drizzle before had begun to turn into snow. But it was warm in the parlour. It smelled exactly the same when she left, of tea leaves and sweet cinnamon.

“Audrey! It really IS you!”

She couldn’t see whom it was that called out her name, but she remembered the hug as it wrapped around her. It was Kate. Perhaps she had aged; her hug had lost some of its old warmth.

“Hey Kate, I’m back.”

“Of course you are! And as pretty as ever! Have a seat! I’ll get something for you!”

Kate. She always had a way of making one feel more than welcome. Audrey headed to her quiet spot, and slid comfortably into the corner. The same pictures hung on the wall.

“Here, have some warm tea, it’d ruffle you back up.”

“Thank you Kate, I’ve missed you.”

“Sweetie, I’ve missed you too.”

They exchanged smiles.

“Audrey, your eyes have changed. They used to smile.”

Audrey turned and looked into her cup. She could not bear to break the news to Kate.

“Give me a moment, I know just the right thing that’d cheer you up! It’s been waiting here for you for a real long time now.”

Where was it that she heard the phrase. A women’s heart is an ocean of secrets. Kate must not know. Not now. Not this way.

Kate returned with a glass in hand; a frozen plastic box in the other. She looked at Audrey, and smiled.

“Jon never told me his recipe. He knew you loved it. And he always wanted to have just one thing that’d make you smile. He always felt that he wasn’t enough for you Audrey… and the recipe made him feel like he could always make you happy.”

“He didn’t need the recipe Kate, I loved and love Jon. He is more then I thought of him.”

“Why are you here Audrey…? Where’s Jon? Did he come with you?”

She could not keep her heart from wrenching.

“He wanted to, but he couldn’t get away from work and…”

“I know Audrey. I saw it in your eyes. What’s happened to Jon?”

She tried to hold her voice back, but her heart could not stand the burden.

“Jon… Jon died, Kate. It was a car accident.” She could barely hear herself.

Kate slumped back into the wooden chair.

“I’m so sorry Kate, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know how to…”

“It’s okay.”

Kate reached out and held Audrey’s hands.

“I knew Jon’s gone. I’m his mother. Mothers always know. I received a mail a few nights ago, and it was Jon. He didn’t say anything, but there, in the envelope, was this.”

Kate pushed the frozen box towards Audrey.

“Open it.”

Audrey’s hands trembled. Her fingers slowly found the leverage, and the lid came off.

Jon’s ice cream.

Audrey’s eyes swelled with days of bottled tears, and her heart could not hold them any longer. The drops flowed across her red cheeks, and her eyes glistened with a smile.

Audrey was young again.

The Lea O'Dimm Letters (xii)

Her hands.
She had the most beautiful hands. Such chaos in well seeming form. From the roots of her fingers to the tips of her nails, each one told a different story.
Her hands were all that was left when the butchering was done.

The weekly truism begins

Besides the daily shorts, I've decided to come up with a truism a week, based on life and well, things I see. So here goes.

Truism (i)
If rose was a little less voluptuous, jack would have made it.

The Lea O'Dimm Letters (xi)

5;
it was now or never. sweat poured from his brows.
4;
memories flashed.. when he made his first friend.
a smile.
3;
a memory of a quarrel, how silly that was..
wait.
2;
my mom.
it's not your fault.
1;
i loved you, i..
0.

..the smoke cleared, sirens wailed, and uniforms stood over where he fell. "Another suicide bomber..?" "Yeah, these people are just cold blooded".

The Lea O'Dimm Letters Revisited

I reread what I wrote again and again (like most OCDs do)

I then realized that lumping writings in 5s dont... really.. work.

And wait, the first 5 of the collection seemed random, and the newest 5 were more... hm... dark? (alright, the last 2 were meant to be funny)

In any case, I'm promising better shorts, and in a one post per short format.

*by short i mean short stories. funny ones, serious one, weird ones.


Thank you.

The Lea O'Dimm Letters (6-10)

(vi)
...and dropped two cubes of ice to calm the coffee's temper.
"will you marry me, lea? i make a good husband.."
she looked down and smiled, and pined for an embrace.
but her gravestone could not answer.

(vii)
starcrossed lovers, each wrapped in jealousy; of their childs attention,
came to a answer. over the crib they stood,
and watched the sheets turn blood red.

(viii)
the couple awed the sunrise from his car.
neither could tell where the sea ended, nor where the heavens began...
the aged man eased himself into her, and kissed her like the first time.
but the young girl's body stayed limp from her passing.

(ix)
they sat him down and asked the question.
...to which he replied,
"could I get back to you on that in say.. 5years?"
they electrocuted him anyway.

(x)
the quarrel ensued, the heat in the club swelled tempers. a young consigliere flashed his piece; a myriad of mistempered weapons formed in a cool cadence.
noone was left unthreatened.
then pop, the guard dog, farted. everyone got capped.

The Lea O'Dimm Letters (1-5)

(i)
...and he waned his life away looking for love; never coming from the source he poured his so readily, never from the direction of his gentle gaze.

(ii)
the lure of freedom through death released. the breaking from the strings, like a marionette liberated, will give no final comfort; as it falls into eternal in-animation.

(iii)
such heavy lightness, as she floated down those stairs. he yearned to feel, but not this way. it was the first time he saw her heart.

(iv)
"your eyes look as if they've not seen her for a thousand years..."

"then i'm glad you see what my blind eyes can't..."

(v)
how joyous were his dreams of his ex-lover. sequences of simple smiles and lightness. lamentations when he woke; soon, he lived to sleep and woke only for sustenance.

Dedication of The Lea O'Dimm Letters

the Lea O'Dimm Letters are short stories, written in my free time, dedicated to...

Do comment.

@23 February 2010, 0147hours.