I seem to be suffering from the January blues, so here’s a snippet more sombre than my usual. It’s from my short story Et In Orcadia, which first appeared in Icarus magazine and is now exclusively available on Amazon in the Boys Who Go Bump in the Night anthology:
What do you say to a man whose love has been taken by the sea?
It’s not a question I’d ever given much thought to, to tell the truth. It turns out there’s any amount of things you can say—at least, I heard plenty in the weeks, the months, after Kyle went out fishing in his boat and never came back.
If you’re Mrs Smyddie, at the Post Office in St Margaret’s Hope, you say, “Och, I was sorry to hear about young Kyle. It was a bad business, that.” You give me a cake you’ve baked, as if I’m a child to be comforted with sweet things. And I dredge up a smile, because you mean it kindly and that helps, just a little.
And if you need cheering up after that, check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors here. That’s what I’m going to be doing! 😉
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JL Merrow 
Aw man, mine may be disquieting but yours is just sad!
Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you! 😉
I’m actually really proud of this story, although I don’t think I could write stuff like this all the time.
Aw, so sad. .Poor boy. That’s just the worst thing – the one you love just disappearing; not knowing what happened to them. You paint such a sad picture
It’s heavily influenced by the landscape and legends of the setting, the Orkney Islands. Some places just won’t let me write funny. 🙂
Aww, that’s heartbreaking. But wonderfully written.
Thank you. 🙂
Gorgeous. You can put yourself right in his shoes.
Thank you! 🙂
I love the title
Thanks! 🙂
Leaves an ache in my heart…
Aw…
Aw so very sad.
❤
This is so sad and there’s a weary resignation about his tone which is so moving.
Thank you. 🙂
I keep rereading this and the feeling gets deeper each time.
❤