Slipping
Her eyes twinkle as she takes the apple pie from the oven. It’s a surprise for her handsome new husband. He tells all his friends about how well she bakes.
She can see the beach through the kitchen window and knows by the rising tide that the harbour will soon be full enough for him to take the boat in. Some days the tide rises so much that she is afraid it will come right into the kitchen and carry her away.
The back door slams shut. She smoothes out her apron and smiles shyly. But instead of her young spouse, an old man stands facing her, an old man who hasn’t fished the bay for nearly twenty years.
Her smile falters as he reaches out to her.
‘Margaret,’ he says quietly. ‘Do you know that’s the third apple pie you’ve made today?’
Their frightened eyes lock and the pie dish slips from her trembling fingers and shatters.
©Siobhán McNamara
I was fortunate enough to have had this piece accepted in Scraps – the National Flash Fiction Day 2013 anthology. I was like a child at Christmas when my author’s copy arrived, and very honoured to have my story included.
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