Writers Abroad Magazine Issue 2 March 2015 | Page 12

WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE

Happiness is Yellow
Flash Fiction by Chris Nedahl
The churchyard is silent — so silent I can hear delicate buttermilk wings fluttering on
the air.
Soon Gideon will be at the service. He is a pious man, respected in this community
of ours. He donates large sums to the restoration and commissioned the village
square. I adored him once but became just another of his trophies.
It was balmy the day we met, just as it is today. The picnic was an annual affair
and I wore yellow, my favourite colour. It was spring and the ladies had Easter bonnets,
covered in fresh flowers. I lift my hand. For a moment it is as if my daisy-adorned lace
still sits on my ebony hair.
I wander through the grass that needs to be cut. Gideon will undoubtedly tell the
Vicar. In turn the Vicar will bluster an apology to his great benefactor and by evening
the grass will be mown. A blind eye will be turned to toil on the Sabbath. Old Jonathan
and his son will not be deemed worthy enough of the Lord’s