An Empty Vase

A return to Contemporary for the week


Melody blinked her eyes awake to darkness. Sunshine tried to sneak through the curtains, but it was failing at the moment. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she sat up. She felt too warm in her pullover and the blanket covering her.

Pulling the navy-blue crewneck over her head, Melody heard the familiar noise of Thomas setting down his headphones, pushing back his desk chair.

“Hey, you’re up,” he said, sitting on the edge of the couch. “How are you feeling?”

Melody shook her head and shrugged. “I don’t know. I still feel really tired.”

He rubbed her shoulder and stood up, saying, “Do you know what would help?”

“Oh no,” she groaned.

Thomas grinned. “Light!” And he threw open the curtains.

Melody squeezed her eyes shut and covered them with her hands for extra protection. Peeking though her fingers she met Thomas’s gaze. She’d been in a slump the last few days and her face felt heavy from crying earlier.

Thomas smiled at her and his gaze landed on the empty vase as he turned to push back the other curtain. “Hey! Isn’t the flower stand open today? We should fill up the vase.”

She looked over at the dining room table. “I’d forgotten that was still out. I’ve been meaning to put it away.”

“Well, let’s just go get some new flowers instead.” Thomas looked out the window, this time sliding open the glass, leaning his head close to the screen, and breathed in. “It smells beautiful out there. It’ll be good for both of us.”

“Oh gosh, now I know what I sound like,” she said, but she was already moving to get up.

“I learned from the best,” he declared with a grin.


This story was written as part of the #flashfictionmagic story community on Instagram instigated by author Emily Barnett. You can follow the hashtag here for more stories.

You can find more flash fiction that I’ve written over here in the Story Corner 🙂

Happy reading!


Writing Process Notes:

2/18/24 // 9:31pm-10:10pm. Hobbit Hole quiet, writing on my end of the couch. Brainstorming and then wrote first draft. Word Count: 365

2/19/24 // 9:23pm-10:06pm. Writing Desk. On the Midnight Prickle with Becky, Bestie, and Tamara. Ant playing Deep Rock with Hunter (Nick Nick’s friend) at first and then Hobbit Hole noises. Word Count: 317

2/21/24 // 9:31pm-10:16pm. Writing desk with Midnight crew. Hobbit Hole quiet; my typing and Ant’s gaming-typing. Scheduled to post on Friday on IG, the Blog, and the blog link scheduled for a FB post. Final WC: 317

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