Dead City by Isserow Lee J

Author:Isserow, Lee J [Isserow, Lee J]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: ABAM.info
Published: 2016-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

11

Mary Gilligan was reading by the fire. It wasn't cold, but she had always liked the way the light and shadows danced around the room. The mantle above the flames was laden with photos of her long departed husband and their still-missing son. Having been retired for some time, she now found solace leafing through the library of over a thousand books her partner of over five decades had left her.

The doorbell rang, and the warmth of the fire proved itself only skin-deep, as a chill ran through her weary old bones. It was after dark, and she was expecting nobody. She recalled the stories that were often on the news, of old ladies answering the door at night, only to be snacked upon by some unspeakable fiend. She dared not think of it further, for fear of her blood pressure.

Another ring, followed by a rat-a-tat on the door. Whoever it was didn't seem to be going away, and they definitely wanted her attention. Cautiously, she walked to the door, as another knock of knuckles rapped on the old wood.

“Who is it?” she asked with a tremor in her voice, trying to contain her fear.

“It's me.” said the voice on the other side. “It's Ashley.”

The pensioner breathed a sigh of relief, unbolting the door, pulling back deadbolts and finally the latch. As the door swung open, Ashley was greeted by a warm smile inviting her embrace. She held back her combination of joy and sadness and simply hugged the old woman.

Mary insisted on boiling the kettle, even though Ashley declined tea, and put out a selection of biscuits that had been waiting for someone to eat them since long before the two even met.

“Mary, will you sit down?” she asked, taking the woman's frail hand.

“Oh, hush girl, I'm not that old.”

“No, please.” she led her mother-in-law to the chair by the fire, and pulled up another opposite her. “It's about Jon.” she continued.

“He loved you, you know that?” she said, her big old eyes becoming glassy.

“I know.” said Ashley, trying to talk over a lump in her throat. “Now, you've got to listen to me, okay?”

“Of course, dear.”

“I saw him today.”

The old woman said nothing, her eyes thick with tears, a smile of false teeth wide on her face.

“He's...” Ashley didn't want to say it, saying it would only hurt the elderly woman she adored. “When he left, when he disappeared, he didn't do that on purpose.”

“You spoke to him?” Mary asked.

“He, he doesn't remember what happened. But somehow, he...” again, she couldn't use the d-word. She held her mother-in-law's hand tight and looked into her eyes, both knowing what she was going to say, and both on the verge of tears.

“He passed away.”

The two women cried by the fireside, their tears glistening as the warm light pirouetted shadows around the room. Ashley stayed with Mary until the old woman was too exhausted to cry any longer. She put the fire out and helped her out of her chair, stopping as her eyes met the mantle.

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