Alisi remembered the hot summer day her triplets were born. The kids, the result of a fling, grew up without knowing their father. Alisi was their everything.
By forty-five, she had become a grandmother. Her twenty-strong family including the sons and daughter in law, celebrated her fiftieth last year. It was a great party.
In five minutes, Alisi will turn fifty-one. She will not celebrate it. The virus took everyone from her. She dusts the caps and hangs them on display. The shops have been permitted to open.
Maybe, she’ll celebrate her first sale with a soda.
Written for the weekly Friday Fictioneers prompt hosted by Rochelle. To read other stories written for this image prompt, please click here.
And one day we’ll all celebrate again
One day we’ll all celebrate again
Dear Varad,
Tragic, heartbreaking story. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Grim. Some of the stories of whole families destroyed by this virus are heartbreaking.
A heartbreaking story.
That was a tragic tale.
Very tragic but nicely done tale.
Timely! There’s a lot of hope going around these days.
Complex layers here. Her true joy was her family, and the virus took them. All she has left is selling trinkets to tourists. Such a tragic story 🙁
Unbearably sad. Excellent writing.
Terribly sad, but brilliantly done in so few words
Too close to truth and wonderfully done!
So sad! Let’s hope these sort of stories aren’t going to become the norm, Varad.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
A sad story beautifully written Varad.
My short story
Tragic yet hopeful.
Good to be back on your blog, Varad.
Too tragic. You should have let a few of the family survive(or the virus should have).
Poor Alisi! To lose even one family member would be hard, but to lose all your family is almost inconceivable.
A sad story beautifully told in so few words.
A sad reality for way too many…
one thing positive about this story is that she has learned to accept the things she couldn’t change and celebrate it with a soda.
You sketched out a whole life in so few words. Excellent
The pain is palpabal. Many are going through these sorrowful times.
I hope she finds joy again one day. Nicely written …
Isadora 😎
Sadly, that’s the kind of virus this is. It jumps quickly. There’s not much to look forward to or celebrate when everyone’s gone. I hope we all have more to celebrate than selling a hat soon.
Heartbreaking. At 51, she is still young. Perhaps she’ll meet someone who’ll understand and together they’ll remember what was and mourn, and also slowly celebrate what will be. Here’s to better times.
I have friends who are facing these losses and the worst part is they could in most cases not even say good bye.