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The Casket of Fictional Delights

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Last Breakfast

by Richard Lakin

Flash Fiction Bittersweet, Romantic

Hail rattled the wood like buckshot. ‘Thank God!’ He snapped on the latch and slumped back against the door, wiping the mist from his glasses with a sleeve. The blood roared in his ears, the lobes beginning to tingle. The walls of the cottage were three-feet thick, it was like stepping into a vacuum. She understood him. She waited for him to kick the snow from his boots before handing him his tea. Steam curled in an ‘S’ toward the rafters. He gripped the enamel mug, wrapping his numb fingers tight about it, not caring that it might scald him.

July was the last time they’d visited and they’d sat among the gorse, high above the cottage, and stared at a sky as black as felt, dotted with shimmering stars. He’d closed his eyes and sucked the salty tang of the Atlantic deep into his lungs and said he never wanted to leave. She’d gripped his hand, stroking his palm with a fingertip. “I know,” she’d said.

He kicked off his boots and set the logs down by the hearth. She cracked two eggs into the pan, preparing their final breakfast. The eggs hissed and spat in the boiling oil. He crept up to her, clasping his arms round her waist and nestling his face in the tickly mohair of her shawl. She slid the fish slice beneath the egg-white and set them down on chunks of buttered soda bread.

“I don’t want to go back,” he said.

She smiled and said, “You never do.”

“I mean it this time.”

She stroked his hand.

“Feels like our Last Supper…. “ he said, already dreading the separation.

She held his face and kissed him. He nodded, forcing a smile. Soon they’d lock the door behind them, taking different cars, different ferries.

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About Richard Lakin

Richard likes writing short stories and it stops him staring at other passengers on the train.
Visit Richard Lakin on the web

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Everyone at The Casket is hoping 2021 will be a better year than 2020.  We have some great short stories and flash fiction lined up for your delight.  We kick of the year with a story by Lydia Unsworth “The Smallest Boxes” and then for Valentine's we have a story by Dylan Brethour which will also be available as a podcast. Later in the summer we have a new Flash Fiction Summer Collection which will be published online and as podcasts read by Menna Bonsels and Richard Hodder.  We hope you enjoy the stories we have for you and look forward to welcoming you back regularly.

Joanna & The Casket of Fictional Delights Team

 

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Please consider making a donation to The Casket of Fictional Delights.  All content on the website is free and widely available to audiences worldwide.  We do not receive any grants and all our content is Ad free.  The Casket of Fictional Delights specialises in producing high-quality podcasts which are recorded by professional actors/voiceover artists from around the world. We hope you enjoy reading and listening to the stories and finding out about Joanna’s varied brooch collection.

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Text & stories © Joanna Sterling 2021
Stories © various authors
Audio by Menna Bonsels
Brooch photography by Mark Colliton
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