Wrought with terror-saturated anxiety, she wondered how she would communicate the truth to Robert. Despite the barrier it would raise for eternity, she owed him at least that much.
She rolled the platen, then began typing:
Dearest Robert,
I gave birth to our son, Johnny, on 3/17/55. He left the hospital with his new parents the next day.
I received a letter on 3/17/73 from Mr. & Mrs. Ames, saying Johnny was killed in VietNam.
Please try to forgive me.
Mary
Mary pulled the loaded pistol from the drawer, walked to the car, and drove towards Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery.
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the thought-provoking host of Friday Fictioneers.
Today’s offering is connected to the story I wrote last week. If you didn’t get a chance to read it, you can find it here.
I wondered why she’s waited so long to tell him and to kill herself. Something must have triggered it. Perhaps the bird at the window? (though this story seems to follow last week’s typewriter prompt).
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She knew it would create a barrier at minimum and destroy their relationship at most, so she never told him. The ultimatum has forced her to be honest with the horrible secret. The communication in the photo is the phone, and the window is the barrier to it. Yes, it’s another chapter from last week’s story.
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A poignant finale to the first part.
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Thank you, yes, no happy endings 😦
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Not every story has a happy ending
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Wow. OMG! Now that was a gut punch. Nice one, Lisa!
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Thank you, Susan. Poor Robert 😦
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A powerful and sad story,
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Thank you, Mike.
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I would have never guessed that from the other one…good ending….as in effective.
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Thanks Max!
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Lisa I’ve gotten behind posts…I’ll catch up.
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No worries.
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Oh wow this is powerful. Gut wrenching. Poor woman.
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Thanks for reading, yes, for her and her poor husband.
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Ouch, powerful stuff.
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I know 😦
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Powerful and totally believable. Great write.
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Thank you, Anthony.
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Bravo! I loved this one! ❤
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Glad you did, thank you!
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So many stories behind children birthed in the secrets required by the times…(K)
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Yes, Kerfe, too many 😦
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Powerful story-telling. Well done.
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Thank you, Iain.
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Mary is in a terrible place, but suicide is never the answer.
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She has been given her ultimatum…
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What a desperately sad story. Well written and so poignant.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thank you, Susan.
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after all these years, she couldn’t fogive herself. what a terrible ending one’s life like that.
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She was given an ultimatum by her long lost son 😦
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I was stunned . It seems tragedy begets tragedy.
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Yes, James.
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Dear Lisa,
Tragic story. Well told. The letter is often and effective vehicle.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, thank you much.
Shalom,
Lisa
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All that heartache for nothing. He never knew about the now-dead son. Now he has to deal with the death of both. I don’t like her.
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It’s a terrible legacy to leave behind isn’t it. Those secrets that come back to haunt can be devastating.
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Terrible! And for naught!
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Dale, we don’t know the whole story…
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True!
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There’s a consensus that she’s committing suicide, but who is she meeting in the cemetery? I got the sense she’s being blackmailed. Could the gun be for protection? Or to silence someone?
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Maybe we’ll never know…
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Ooh! You tease!
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What a sad story – very well written!
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Thank you, Clare.
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Tragic, well penned.
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Thank you, Susan.
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This whole thing is super sad. Well written and all of that, but sad.
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Life is a mixed bag for sure 😦
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Sorry, but I am confused as to why someone would wait almost 50 years to tell about a death.
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Maybe because they never told about the birth? People have their reasons for keeping secrets…
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That’s a gut wrenching story, well told.
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Thank you, Michael.
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Wow, powerful stuff, I missed last week, really busy doing absolutely nothing, I shall seek it out
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There is a link at the bottom to connect you to it, Shrawl.
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Just read it!! Ace! Well done 👍
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Thanks Shrawl! Sorry for the late response. Just found your comment in spam.
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Telling the truth afterwards… what a burden to carry.
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So Robert knew he had a son only after his son was dead. Yikes. Lots of twists and turns here.
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So many things she should have told him before now.
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You express the tension of holding secrets over years so clearly, and the corrosive effect on the holder of the secret. A tragic ending. Nicely done.
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Thank you for your comment.
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Wow! I’ve read them both now. Life is full of wrenching choices and some never let us go. Well done!
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Thank you, Sascha!
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Oh wow… there is so much heavy emotion in this piece. So tragic
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Thank you, Laurie.
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What a horrible ending to a fraught life
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Thanks for reading and commenting. Secrets kept fester with all kinds of things.
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A twist I couldn’t have expected, delightful in the telling.
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Thank you very much. I enjoyed writing this story, and it felt good to write the end the way I did.
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That’s what shines through in the emotion and power of the characters. 🙂
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🙂
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Powerful writing, Li. I went back to read the first one from a whole new perspective.
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Thank you very much, Magarisa.
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Her secret came back to haunt her, nicely done.
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Thank you, yes it did.
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