Lost Downstream

Our father was an ancient river god. We, his fish, speared by his glance, gutted ‘til our mangled hearts bled, steeped in his ale-soused breath. Our mother, a river nymph, soothed the torrent to keep us afloat in our fragile paper boats.

He turned younger through the years, through our unmooring, softer and dryer, until we aged past him.

We fidget, watch his body drift, forget its strength, his eyes losing themselves in quilt patterns. We cast our old answering-back voices about over his head. Pinch his fingers, hard. Trying to bait the fierceness we were once so afraid of.

Linda Grierson-Irish lives and works in Manchester, UK, and writes flash fiction and occasional short stories, some of which can be found at https://lindagriersonirish.wixsite.com/artandfiction/fiction.

Photo Credit: Janine Pauke

6 Responses to “Lost Downstream”

  1. james says:

    nice piece of writing man, kind of oracle.

  2. lindsaycoats says:

    Thanks so much for the post.Really thank you! Great.

  3. Janice says:

    Thank you. A touching way to address the tension and mixed feelings for those of us dealing with aging parents.

  4. Anna says:

    One of my Top 5 favorite reads on this site. So good. Thank you for sharing.

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