Story 142: "Silver Bells and Cockle Shells" by threeguesses

[wendelah1]

I hope everyone is having a fine weekend. Our next selection is a short-short by threeguesses. I like everything of hers I've read. You can find the rest of her work at her Master List of Fic.

What else? 600 words. No warnings. Summary: William meets a girl in the garden.

"Silver Bells and Cockle Shells"

Comments

[write_out]

This was a new one for me and I had to read it a few times before it really sank in.

Some of my favorite lines:

When he starts spending all his time in the garden, his dad asks “like the bugs, eh son?” and William says “eh” and his dad goes back to reading the newspaper and it’s just another Saturday morning, only William can’t catch his breath.

William can't catch his breath. Oh, this makes me sad.

She has drawn nothing but red flowers; her section of the deck is carpeted with them. William tests the drawing with his fingertips and it's softer than wood ought to be. He snatches his hand back.

Surreal and not a little frightening.

William is nine. His dad isn’t really his dad and his mum isn’t really his mum. He has never asked about his real parents.

“I’ll take you to meet them,” she says. When she takes his hand it is like holding air. Her dress is yellow and the blades of grass do not bend under her weight.

God, that last line.

This story is both freaky and heartbreaking. Normally I shy away from William fic because it makes me too damn sad. Giving William to Mulder and Scully and then taking him away after all they've been through still feels heartless to me, even if I can sort of understand why. Okay, no, I can't. However, I am glad I read this. It's a lovely, creepy, well-written little story about two lost children. And that cliffhanger ending...just how would she take William to meet his parents? I don't think I want to know.