Sleep is a stranger. Do I hear my neighbour's TV through the wall? I grapple with an over-active mind; imagining her lying there, prostrate. Her lifeless eyes peering upwards. Unease drips over me like tar. It’s not the sound of the TV. It’s not the thought of her body slowly seizing up like stone. It’s those damn open eyes, forever searching, never seeing; unforgiving in dark repose.
Yet, I realise I should applaud the fertility of my imagination; for with Damascene revelation, I understand her open eyes are bright pools of solace.
If I’d closed them, I’d have left fingerprints.
JS Apsley is the pen name of an aspiring author from Glasgow, Scotland. He won the Ringwood Publishing short story prize 2024 for his debut fiction submission, Immersion. See www.jsapsley.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Remember that we are here to support each other.