Diminished

 

a story written from this prompt above

for Short Story Slam

thank you Bluebell books for inviting me to contribute

Diminished

 

 One of them looks like a Wonder bread wrapper. I watch from afar as the balloons inflate,propane flowing to the burners which in turn fires the flames upward to the envelopes of cloth. I watch as they ascend and wish that I could be in one, as it untethers and disappears carried away by the sound of wind and flame.
If only pain were that easy to get away from.
My mother always pulls my parachute valve, wrapping her needy fingers around the silken cord that has bound us since my birth and yanks it so my life deflates before it can lift away.
She is alone, she is poor, she is sick, she is old. She is.
But I have found a man who wants me, loves me,and doesn't need me.  This time I will let my burners fire and be lifted up in a silken gown of white. This time I will yank that cord away from her
and watch the wonder of it all as I tighten the cord around her neck and the parachute valve opens and she descends into hell.
If only pain were that easy to get away from.
The wind blows my stringy hair across my face
and I know that I can only hold my stare upward into the sky and watch the balloons until they are but a speck in the sky,
my wonder released, barely visible.


http://bluebellbooks.blogspot.com
May 11th's post