PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
The world was swollen that night, heavy snow turning hedges and curbs to fat pillows. Beneath were the same thorns, the same sharp corners to catch unwary toes.
As she looked across a garden glazed white, she realised that was what her marriage had always been – pristine to the casual observer, while beneath that shallow surface …
Despite everything, she saw beauty in those contrasts of soft and sharp, sweet perfection and hidden terror.
Her favourite contrast lay beyond the misted window pane. Crisp, white snow, smeared and speckled crimson.
Her grip slackened around the knife’s bone handle.
Written for Rochelle Wisoff-Field’s Friday Fictioneers. See the pic and write a tale and don’t forget to read and comment. See here to join in.
Beautifully dark. Took a turn for the worst, loved the contradictions all the way through.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Iain
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very graphic, Lynn. I’m sure another fall of snow will disguise the evidence, but there is the small matter of the ‘cushion’ that contains the body. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes indeed. She’ll have to make good her escape before the thaw. If she intends to escape at all, of course. Thank you for reading Sandra
LikeLike
Wonderfully descriptive, both visually and emotionally. Nice one Lynn.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much. And thanks for reading
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very visual and highly descriptive. Your writings are always a great pleasure, Lynn.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Neel, that’s lovely of you to say so
LikeLike
Very mysterious! I’m inclined to feel this is something other than murder – self-harm, perhaps – because her appreciation of the hidden beauty is an ongoing thing, and because the snow is only speckled and smeared with crimson. If she had killed her husband, I’d expect more blood. But perhaps I’m over-thinking it. It’s a gripping story, Lynn, and I’d love to read more about it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Penny. Some terrible mishap has occured, that’s for certain. I don’t know why, but I had seen her as the trophy wife of a career criminal who finally had enough of her husband’s terrifying life encroaching on her own. I don’t think she expects to leave the house alive, put it that way. Thank you so much for reading
LikeLike
Enjoyed the contrasts throughout. Great ending!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much. Really kind of you
LikeLike
I’d say you got the format “licked,” as we’d say in the States.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks kindly Bill! Just emerging from Valentine’s Day so will try to catch up a little online over this next week. Hope all’s well with you 🙂
LikeLike
Ah, V-day for a florist….say no more. You take your time. The internet’s not going anywhere.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Delightful contrasts in this 100-words. The opening paragraph draws the reader in and the final sentence spits the reader out (all in a very good way). Everything in between carries the story beautifully.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Lish. Very kind of you
LikeLike
This is so neatly turned, crisp and contrasting – as you intended. I love the way you use rhyme and slant rhyme, though I’m not sure whether it is conscious or instinctive. Maybe a bit of both…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, you see, that’s why you can write poetry and I can’t – you see things I don’t! Instinctive only, I’m afraid – I’m terrible at self analysis and just go by if something ‘sounds’ right. Thank you for picking that out though – I’ll take a look at it again now, see what I did!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ha! You’re poet who doesn’t know it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I may just be … Nah! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s not the form you want to work with, so you might as well just stick with what you’re doing, which is often poetry, whatever you might say 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 XX
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Lynn,
So much feeling in the description. Without telling us exactly what’s happening, we know. Poetic and dark and so well told.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Rochelle. Glad you felt it worked
LikeLike
Is this @metoo movement getting out of hand? You kept us thinking. 😯
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe … But then, we don’t know what he did, do we? Perhaps she was justified … Thanks so much for reading 🙂
LikeLike
Oh no! I guess there was no way she could converse with him about her concerns. . And, hence the last resort.
Beautifully written, as always. .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Perhaps she’d tried and he wouldn’t listen, so … Thank you for reading Moon
LikeLiked by 1 person
My privilege, Lynn.🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great imagery and twist. Enjoyed the read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes behind the gold is just tarnished pot metal…. Love your story. Great imagery.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How very, sadly true. Thanks so much Jelli
LikeLike
In Sweden we say… “what is hidden in snow is revealed at thaw”… so maybe the blessing is short.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A greta saying and very apt in this case I think. Thank you Bjorn
LikeLike
What will she do?
Intriguing story!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dawn
LikeLiked by 1 person
Classic contrast between dark/light, good/evil. Beautifully drawn, and powerful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much. And thank you for reading
LikeLiked by 1 person
Highly Hitchcock of you Lynn. *evil laugh.*
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, he was the master! Thanks Pola 🙂
LikeLike
Indeed he was! He always picked a snow-like blond leading lady for exactly your reasons…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, he did have a thing for platinum blondes, didn’t he? Strikes me the film Vertigo (where James Stewart tries to transform his new girlfriend into a clone of his dead one) reflects Hitchcock’s own continual search for a ‘type’ – cool, smart, curvaceous, white blonde. Not sure what that says about the man, but it’s probably not good.
LikeLike
Ha, no, not according to the amount of refereeing his wife had to do between him and various of his leading ladies.
Hmm, Madeleine… that was the most chilling part of the film for me, him re-making a woman into his dead wife. The immense loss of female agency and commodification was chilling, overlaid with that whirling, romantic, eerie Bernard Herrman score. It didn’t even add depth to the level of his grief, more underscored his delusional desire to replace her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a disturbing film all round really, one of the few times James Stewart played someone not 100% nice, which in itself must have been disturbing for viewers. And that controlling / being controlled relationship – toxic.
LikeLike
Definitely. I have never liked Jimmy Stewart, he had an air of Southern Gentleman which combines mannerliness with condescension, whether being nice or not.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I rather liked him as an actor but I know that in real life he was very conservative and he and I would most definitely not have got on. I try not to let an actor’s real character affect me, but it does. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The famous Hitchcock quote was something like ‘I reason I choose blonde female leads is because they have a whiteness of quality, like snow, all the better to see blood on.’ Very wolfish.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh, well, that’s disturbing! Though it does sound like him.
LikeLiked by 1 person