Sunset

sumayyahsaidso (64)in #story • 8 years ago

Here is a sample from the flash/short fiction collection I am working on, tentatively titled, "Insert Clever Title Here". The prompt was "sunset on the last day" and was given to me by @shannonbarber.

Sunset

“Just look at it,” I said, waving around my last bottle of red wine. “Just look at it. All red and gold and shit. You ever seen some more beautiful shit than this?” I waited for an answer from my companions, but none came, because the dead don’t speak. I chuckled to myself, and glanced over at the mounds of fresh earth that surrounded me.

I took another swig of alcohol to warm my cooling flesh and gather the courage I needed to climb into the muddy grave at my feet. Since there was no one left to bury me, I had to inter myself. More of the light faded, dropping the air temperature another few degrees. If I didn’t hurry, the mud would harden, and I would have to dig another pit in the dark.

I spun in a slow circle, pouring the last of my wine onto the resting places of my friends. “Kitty,” I said, “who always made us laugh. Thank you.”

“Jonah, who brought the noise when we needed it. Thank you.”

“Trigger, our silent sentinel, who always protected us from the monsters. Thank you.”

I paused at the last grave. My throat closed up, and my eyes flooded with tears. “Tricky muthafuckin’ Trina, my first and last love. If there’s something after this, I hope we’re in it together.” I broke the empty bottle over my knee. Raising the jagged edged neck of the bottle to my throat, I turned to my own spot and walked in, just as the sun slipped out of sight.