Sunday, 16 June 2019

Write-In 2019: 'A Waltz' by Julia Calventus Coveney

A girl sits down to eat at an empty dining table. She peppers her meal and strips a napkin from its container. The girl looks down at her plate and picks at the food she finds there. Footsteps get louder. She resists looking up.

   - Is this seat taken?

   - No.

Forcing a smile, she listens as the chair is dragged off across the room. The taking of the chair symbolizes many a lost conversation.

Time crawls by and her meal is gone; the girl picks up. On her way out she smiles at the dining hall worker who replies with a friendly nod. The girl waltzes to class, sits silently, never raises her hand. She takes notes she will never revise. She attends a meeting that totals three people, including herself.

The Sun goes down and dinner time rolls around. A girl sits down to eat at an empty dining table.

1 comment:

  1. Your 'waltz' creates a powerful atmosphere. Congratulations!

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