Irish potatoes, how could she have forgotten the Irish potatoes? As she shuffled across the kitchen she already knew her cupboard held exactly what she needed. She’d whip them right up. She might even doctor them with some flavored liquor. Why not? It was a birthday after all.
Wait.
A.
Minute.
The clock said it was two a.m. How could that be? She had started at seven. As she looked around the kitchen, she gasped. There were clumps of butter and cinnamon everywhere. She was missing a slipper and there was a lime in her pocket. She stared suspiciously towards the back door. Had someone gotten in? And then it hit her. She knew before she even made her way to the fridge what she would find. Sure enough, tucked behind the milk was the empty bottle of booze, her slipper surrounding it like an ill fitting cozy. The best part, her favorite part, was what she found next. There, on the kitchen table, amidst the bottles of vanilla was her notebook. As she picked it up her hands trembled. It was Lila.
Normally too painful to read she would keep the book stashed away in the den. Lila loved to write and the book was a joyful yet painful reminder she was no longer with them. “Taken too soon,” her grandmom would say. Lila was a light. When she entered a room it felt as though a window had been thrown open and all you could feel was the warm breeze of summer.
Covered in powdered sugar she looked down at that same familiar page and saw the quote that Lila had written. After she passed, they discovered this particular quote written carefully in the middle of her notebook. They were never able to find a source and after searching decided it must have been one of hers. “If you walk with intention through beauty may you never reach the other side.”
“Oh Lila my beautifult girl, I miss you. Happy Birthday.”
;
The 333 words above are for Trifecta’s Weekly Contest. When I first wrote this story, it was five hundred and thirty seven words. Man was it tough to trim it down. I hope I did it justice. Although I found this challenge to be a tough one, I really enjoyed it and look so forward to reading the other entries. Good luck everyone!
Great story. My favorite sentence is, “When she entered a room it felt as though a window had been thrown open and all you could feel was the warm breeze of summer.”
Thank you Duck, that was one of my favorites too. I hope one day someone feels that way about both of us (unless they already do of course). The should if they’re wise
.
Amazing take on the prompt-loved the way the tone changed from quirky to sombre -a heart rending tale,written well.
Thank you very much for the comment. I’m so glad you liked it.
Love this, but would love to read all 500 words
I loved the 500 words version Ann. It made much more sense to me then
. Good thing I’m not trying to write a novel. It would be two thousand pages and I’d want to keep every single one!
So, when are you going to share the 500 word version?
AND…go ahead and write a novel … all 2 thousand pages 
I will soon, I promise. And I very well may Ann, I very well may.
Yippee!
This was a beautiful but heartbreaking story. Sometimes I wonder if those of us left behind ever really get over missing the ones who’ve passed.
Thank you Janna. I think the pain stays, sometimes it’s just the size of a pea after a very long time but it stays. If you’re lucky it is dulled by some lovely memories you hold close.
Oh, and I loved the grifter in Gucci line in your post (I think you had said grifter). LOVED it!
A bitter-sweet story. Nice.
Thank you Lumdog.
There is so much more to this story, I think. The loss of a loved one. The apparent alcoholism, I’d love to read more,
And good use of the prompt.
Thank you. You know I never thought I’d ever write something longer than maybe a magazine article (which I have yet to write) but, I think this story may be the start of something and I’m excited about it!
What a lovely little story (:
Thank you Draug and congratulations on the win! It was such a great piece!
Interesting take on the prompt.
Interesting like, “Oh, you’ve cut off all of your hair and tattooed your head with flames,” or like, “that made me think, I liked it?” I wish I could have posted the full story. It seemed to flow better. It had much more meat to it. Thank you for reading!