Saturday, February 18, 2023

Day 49 - Fade Me

 Fade Me 
Matthew Ryan Fischer

 
“When was the last time you talked to Leda?”
“I can’t remember.”
The photos had faded. There was dust on the frames. The years had come and gone. There were stains where hands had pushed doors open, smudges on the walls where fingers had flipped on and off light switches. Paint was chipped. Wallpaper stained. Cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling.
The wood floors would creak at night. When Brennan would walk the hallways during the day, he could never repeat the same sound. It meant nothing, but he noticed and wondered why.
The crows would cross the sky at sunrise, but in later afternoon they would land and sit on the rooftops and in the trees. More and more gathered every day. Soon they spread across yards and the street itself.
Most would scatter in a cacophony of noise and fly away when Brennan came outside. Most, but not all. One especially bold crow would stay still, in the yard, watching him. He could get within ten feet and still nothing, the crow was unafraid. The crow would study him, just as much as he it. What was it thinking, he wondered? Why was it so undaunted?
The crow was not his friend.
Brennan felt unseasonably cold. He never got chills when he was young. Now, a common occurrence. She was cold. Often. Now that it was too late, he could relate.
The sun set and Brennan sat in the shadows. The last light from the setting sun reflecting on the picture frames. A glimmer kept dancing in his sight-line. Annoying and precise, somehow always finding his exact line of sight.
The shadows filled the room with darkness and he was alone.
Winter set in.

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