Annette Rey is the Readers’ Choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. The winning entry is decided by the popular vote and rewarded with a special feature here today. (In the case of a tie, the writer who submitted an entry first is the winner per our rules.)
Without further ado, here’s the winning story:
Valentine
by Annette Rey
It happens to be Valentine’s day and this is all wrong, so wrong!
It hadn’t started out this way. We were happy, shared everything. We loved walks in the moonlight, and the fresh ocean breeze, warm in the summer, bracing cold in the winter.
The last trip we took was to the mountains, secluded in a log cabin, no one around for miles. It was summer. We spent days and nights peacefully roaming the area, enjoying the wildlife, photographing away. Then, Timmy actually found a human bone. That turned our get-away into a zoo; forensic teams, search dogs, helicopters, news cameras. But Tim was in his milieu and loved every minute of it.
I never imagined what could happen.
The deceased once lived in our town. And just because of that, we were dragged through the news, followed by the press, even after we went back home to the coast. Even old friends cast suspicious looks. We had never visited that state before, but that didn’t matter to the authorities. They expected proof of a negative. And so, they still pursue.
And now, I’m faced with this. Tim left me. My shadow is gone. And all I can do is place flowers on his grave.
People think I’m nuts to do this, to go through all the associated expense for him. But he was my best friend – fur, tail, and all.
Thank you for this opportunity. Perhaps my work will make it into the next anthology. You are doing a very great thing for the unheard writers on this side of the internet. Hope to be communicating again soon.