177 Ficlet: One Night, He Was Gone
Title One Night, He Was Gone
Author Brutti ma buoni
Rating PG
Word Count 220
Prompt 177 Flick of the Switch
Characters/Pairing (if any) The Mayor and his wife
A/N: Also filling the fantas_magoria summer tag line prompt. Most efficient!
He came back wrong. As though a switch had flicked and... zap.
Edna Mae Wilkins was never quite able to lay her finger on how she knew. But the Richard who came back from the big city that dark and stormy night wasn’t quite her Richard any more.
He seemed more certain, whisking her into his sudden plans to move out west without ever pausing to question. Rushing her into purchasing and packing, onto trains and off as though he’d crossed the continent a thousand times before. Founding a town, for heavens’ sakes, in the sure and certain knowledge that others would follow. However did a travelling stationery salesmen turn to this?
He seemed less... human. Flesh and blood still, that was certain sure; he became terrified of the germ peril, as though he had more to lose than most. But he didn’t seem to see people as people any more. When their lost child’s birthday rolled round, Edna Mae wept alone this year, far from her little girl’s grave.
He seemed younger too. As the years passed, she found the truth. He wasn’t getting younger; she was ageing, without him. Slow creeping horror inside her own home, every day.
The switch had flicked only once. But her Richard had gone in that instant.
Author Brutti ma buoni
Rating PG
Word Count 220
Prompt 177 Flick of the Switch
Characters/Pairing (if any) The Mayor and his wife
A/N: Also filling the fantas_magoria summer tag line prompt. Most efficient!
He came back wrong. As though a switch had flicked and... zap.
Edna Mae Wilkins was never quite able to lay her finger on how she knew. But the Richard who came back from the big city that dark and stormy night wasn’t quite her Richard any more.
He seemed more certain, whisking her into his sudden plans to move out west without ever pausing to question. Rushing her into purchasing and packing, onto trains and off as though he’d crossed the continent a thousand times before. Founding a town, for heavens’ sakes, in the sure and certain knowledge that others would follow. However did a travelling stationery salesmen turn to this?
He seemed less... human. Flesh and blood still, that was certain sure; he became terrified of the germ peril, as though he had more to lose than most. But he didn’t seem to see people as people any more. When their lost child’s birthday rolled round, Edna Mae wept alone this year, far from her little girl’s grave.
He seemed younger too. As the years passed, she found the truth. He wasn’t getting younger; she was ageing, without him. Slow creeping horror inside her own home, every day.
The switch had flicked only once. But her Richard had gone in that instant.