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The Third Favourite Wife of The Emperor

by Rosie Garland

Flash Fiction Bittersweet, Poignant

At the hoist of the red lantern, she draws the curtain of her cuff across her face, so she does not pollute The Emperor with her unworthy gaze. At His approach, she invokes the spirit of the nightingale and trills gratitude for His gifts: a toothpick, a sprinkle of caraway, a pot of foxgloves. In the bask of His Divine Radiance she conjures herself from bird into the squeezed crawl of silkworm grub; grinds her brow in dust made holy by His heels.
Small wife. Humble. The neat brown cheep of her agreements, her praise-songs for His Majesty, the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven. She has memorised the hundred righteous positions of a woman: the peony, the dog, the spatchcocked pigeon. She plants incense sticks before Kuan Yin, sheaves of them, that she may bear ripe sons and not the yoke of intelligence.

Most all of all, she studies the goddess’s most important lesson: how a wife can keep her skull attached to her neck. Every month there is a new girl. She is one of many choices. In the cage of her head, she tends dreams of butterflies. The bars are so narrow that no finger, however celestial, can poke through and flatten the tiny creatures.

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About Rosie Garland

Rosie is a novelist, poet and sings with post-punk band The March Violets. With a passion for language nurtured by public libraries, her work has appeared in Under the Radar, The North, New Welsh Review, Rialto & elsewhere. Her latest novel 'The Night Brother' was reviewed in The Times as “playful and exuberant... with shades of Angela Carter.”
Visit Rosie Garland on the web

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Starting in June and through to the end of September  The Casket of Fictional Delights presents more Susan Tate adventures.  Enjoy following a year in the life of Susan Tate the quirky librarian who lives in Canterbury with her cat Charles Dickens written by Joanna Sterling, read by Menna Bonsels and illustrated by Michael N Green.

There are many other short stories and flash fictions available to read and listen to in our Stories and Podcast sections.

Joanna & The Casket of Fictional Delights Team

 

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Text & stories © Joanna Sterling 2022
Stories © various authors
Editing by Joanna Sterling & Alyson Faye
Audio by Menna Bonsels
Brooch photography by Mark Colliton
Other photography by Rosie Marks
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