The Sunflower

A Story by SaltyParabolas

Prompt: Storm, sunflower

If I never saw a sword again, it would be too soon.

I stumbled forward through the mud, trying not to slip as I picked my way through the fields of corn, my cloak flipped up above my head, doing its best to shield me from the relentless rain. I shivered as the cold breeze penetrated my damp clothing and focused my eyes on my goal: a farmhouse with a pillar of smoke rising lazily from the chimney. I could already taste Magda’s freshly baked bread and ground coffee. I had been gone for a long time, but not long enough to forget the smell of her perfume and the warmth of her laugh. I felta grin spread unbidden across my lips as I thought of her look of gleeful surprise that I would see when I knocked on the familiar red wooden door.

At last, I reached my destination and knocked on the door, waiting eagerly for her to call into the night. I waited a few moments, but no answer came from the small farm house.

“Magda” I called, my heart beating so hard I thought it might leap from my chest. “MAGDA!” I yelled more forcefully when I received no response. I peered through the window and saw a familiar hand extending from the bedroom, the rest of the body hidden from view, the ring on her fourth finger glinting in the low firelight coming from the center of the room.

Everything in me screamed in protest as I stood there, frozen. ‘Move, you oaf!” my mind cried but it was as though my feet were stuck to the ground, my body made of ice. A crack of thunder jolted me to my senses and I ran back to the door, slamming my shoulder into it, not feeling the sting of splintering wood.

At last, the door cracked open and I ran inside, stopping short at the sight before me. There was Magda, MY Magda, lying still, far too still. I saw above where blood blossomed from a recently inflicted wound, a single sunflower lying on her body.

No.

No, he couldn’t have found me here. He couldn't have found her, I had done everything he’d asked. This wasn’t POSSIBLE. I fell to my knees before my wife, tears streaming down my cheeks as I screamed.

But no one heard me as the thunder rumbled through the night.