• About
  • Home
  • Flash Fiction
  • Flash Poesy
  • Excerpt – The Child of Heaven
  • Excerpt – The Child of Passion
  • Excerpt – The Lost Child
  • Fellow Writers
  • Publications/Credits
  • Excerpt – Ripples on the Pond
  • One Million Project – Thriller Anthology
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Blog

sebnemsanders

~ ripples

sebnemsanders

Tag Archives: smoke

Dust, Smoke and Love

06 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by SebnemSanders in Flash Fiction, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

absence, detachment, dust, flashfiction, ghost, life, loss, love, melancholy, memories, pain, presence, smoke, time

Smoke art Mehmet-Ozgur_1600_600

 

Memories gathered dust among the cigarette fumes. The smoke had always surrounded them in times of love and pain. A silent witness to the affair, it rose in spiralled clouds that vanished into the atmosphere, the hint of its existence trailing behind in scent. Consumed yet lingering, like the hurt in her heart.

 

She sat on the open deck of the channel ferry, as the scenery passed before her eyes. Her thoughts eclipsing the images, life seemed to evolve without her participation. Sunsets and sunrises, the moon and the stars no longer evoked feelings of wonder. Their charm exhausted, their meaning lost.  A meandering melancholy had stolen the colours and transported her into a scene from a black and white art film with little conversation and tedious gazes shot in slow-motion.

 

In a state of detachment, she continued to stare into the distance, as the ferry approached the terminal. A scurry of muffled footsteps and snippets of conversation sneaked into her reverie. Silhouettes passed her by and disappeared, until new figures emerged and left at intervals.

 

Cruising back and forth across the channel, the vessel made its scheduled trips, as she sat unmoved through the motion. Daylight turned into night, electric beams lit up the distant hills like a shower of fireflies.

 

A ferry conductor’s voice broke her thoughts. “Lady, this is the last stop for the night. You must get off.” The pixels of his face materializing before her, she tried to command her paralyzed legs to get up and move. Holding onto the barrier, she stood and staggered to the stairs. The abyss frightened her. One step at a time, shaky limbs proceeded towards the set destination. Reaching the bottom platform, she paused and took a deep breath.

The conductor following her asked, “Are you on drugs?”

“If memories are drugs, that’s what I’m on.”

“You lost someone.”

“You could say that, but not to death.”

“Ah, to someone else? That’s even sadder.”

“Is it?”

“You seem like a ghost in the land of the living. That’s bad.”

 

She resumed her steps and froze when she came to the portable bridge connecting the ferry to the quay. Images of falling into the gap and of being squashed between the vessel and the concrete rushed to her mind. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

“Here, let me help,” the man said. He held her hand until she landed safely ashore.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice quivering.

“Stop and think,” he said, and smiled. “Fear of death means you want to continue living.”

“Yes.”

“Live it up, then, instead of ignoring it.”

“I’ll try.”

“There are no buses at this hour, you must take a taxi.”

“Thank you for your help. Good night.”

 

Her steps now more confident, she ambled to the taxi rank and took a cab.

 

Home she thought, and the sanctuary of her bed. She needed a rest from the memories. Tomorrow would be a new day, when, perhaps, she would allow them to gather more dust while she followed the cigarette smoke to new destinations.

 

 

Photo credit:

Smoke Works, Cutting Edge by Mehmet Özgür,  Mehmet Ozgur

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • More
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • A Gift to Remember, a Christmas Story
  • My Flash Fiction Story, Elsewhere, is at the Ekphrastic Review
  • My Flash Fiction Story, Désirée, is at the Subject and Verb Agreement Press Blog Spot
  • My flash fiction story, Interstellar, is at the Ekphrastic Review
  • My Story, The Stranger, is published in Pure Slush’s Appointment at 10.30 Anthology

Recent Comments

SebnemSanders on A Gift to Remember, a Christma…
Fran Macilvey on A Gift to Remember, a Christma…
SebnemSanders on My Flash Fiction Story, Désiré…
Richard Ankers on My Flash Fiction Story, Désiré…
SebnemSanders on My Flash Fiction Story, Désiré…

Archives

  • December 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015

Categories

  • blog post
  • Book Excerpts
  • Books
  • Corona Chronicles
  • Fellow Writers
  • Fiction
  • Flash Fiction
  • flash non-fiction/thoughts
  • Flash Poesy
  • Inspired by a True Life Story
  • Interview
  • Memoir
  • micro-fiction
  • My Reviews
  • Newsfeed
  • non-fiction
  • poetry
  • publications
  • Reviews
  • Short Story
  • The Child of Heaven
  • True Story
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • A Gift to Remember, a Christmas Story
  • My Flash Fiction Story, Elsewhere, is at the Ekphrastic Review
  • My Flash Fiction Story, Désirée, is at the Subject and Verb Agreement Press Blog Spot
  • My flash fiction story, Interstellar, is at the Ekphrastic Review
  • My Story, The Stranger, is published in Pure Slush’s Appointment at 10.30 Anthology

Recent Comments

SebnemSanders on A Gift to Remember, a Christma…
Fran Macilvey on A Gift to Remember, a Christma…
SebnemSanders on My Flash Fiction Story, Désiré…
Richard Ankers on My Flash Fiction Story, Désiré…
SebnemSanders on My Flash Fiction Story, Désiré…

Archives

  • December 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015

Categories

  • blog post
  • Book Excerpts
  • Books
  • Corona Chronicles
  • Fellow Writers
  • Fiction
  • Flash Fiction
  • flash non-fiction/thoughts
  • Flash Poesy
  • Inspired by a True Life Story
  • Interview
  • Memoir
  • micro-fiction
  • My Reviews
  • Newsfeed
  • non-fiction
  • poetry
  • publications
  • Reviews
  • Short Story
  • The Child of Heaven
  • True Story
  • Uncategorized

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • sebnemsanders
    • Join 210 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • sebnemsanders
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    %d bloggers like this: