Friday Fictioneers – Stardeath

~ neilmacdon
trees-ronda-del-boccio
Photo Prompt © Ronda Del Boccio

The light was failing. And it grew cold, so cold. Hoarfrost crackled on dying limbs.

“How can this be? How can the sun abandon us?” Frank was shocked by how reedy and tremulous his voice sounded.

His granddaughter put a hand over his. “It’s just the way of the universe. Everything has its season, comes into existence, lives and dies. As with people, so is with stars.”

“Great,” Frank muttered. “Philosophy.”

She was wise enough to remain silent, knowing she could say nothing. When a grandparent dies, she knew, a world dies with them.

 

 

Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here

86 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Stardeath”

  9. Beautiful and expertly told story, Neil. Grandparents are very special. My son recently lost his grandfather (my father) but he lives on in our memories. And yes, our world isn’t the same without him.

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    1. Thanks, Penny. I was aiming to simply trick the reader: to create the initial assumption that we were dealing with the death of a solar system, and then to reveal it was the death of a man. And finally to suggest the two are not so different

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  29. This was lovely, Neil. I read it a few times just to savour it. My mind still runs over the words “when a grandparent dies, a world dies with them” and then linking that to the sun disappearing.
    It is a reverse perspective of the theory that when we die we become stars. In this case, a star dies with us.

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  32. Hmmm, interesting. If I am reading it right, the granddaughter was NOT “wise enough to remain silent” — she should never have said the first thing she said. Philosophy not needed then. It sounds like the Grandfather was the wise one. Smile

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