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#AtoZchallenge #flashfiction: H for Having Nothing to Lose

As part of the A to Z Challenge,  through the month of April I’ll be posting a story a day based on photographs by Joseph T. Richardson and prompts given to me by blog-friends.
Writing prompt: Having nothing to lose…

Provided by: Cheryl KP, friend, fellow writer, artist.

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#atozchallenge : H for Having lost all hope...

#atozchallenge : H for Having nothing to lose

     Having nothing to lose, she let her dress fall.

      It made no sound. The silk stroked her neck as she untied the knot. It pooled at her breasts, which, sagging, could not hold up the sheath of green.

       It peeled off in the flickering light, alive like an emerald snake, this dress he’d given her, it slid against her stomach, unraveling, and came to rest on her hips.

Her stomach had caved in, her navel a dark hole in a crater of sunken bones. She wanted to sit down, let her body fall, too. She wanted to curl up, touch her nose to her navel. She wanted to sniff out that enemy in her stomach hard as a tennis ball, with none of its bounce, or color, or playfulness.

It sucked out her life, into itself. It will not stop till it’s done, till it has sucked her in, skin, bones, what little flesh she’d left.

She would leave them behind, leave him behind, leave behind the dress. She didn’t need them. Because where she had to go, she would find no life, no green, no shame, no friendship, nor love, no hate, no pain, nor hope. Only a soft twilight, a dusky sameness, a shivering, soft-whispery jungle hugging her path. She would glide down the shiny road, the lines of which will lead her on, from darkness.

She could not see the end, not yet. She heard no sound, but what heartbreak makes a noise, what last breath explodes? The death of hope is silent too. No matter. She will stand, and watch, watch herself curl back to what she once was, and return to where she came from.

That path alone is real.

~~~~~

Are you taking part in the A to Z challenge? Do you read or write fiction? Ever write based on a prompt? Have you lost a loved one to cancer?

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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