Mary: A Storiiverse Flash Fiction Story by Ondrea Keigh

AI generated concept of Mary Arlin, Benjamin Arlin's first wife.

Mary

A Stroiiverse flash that takes place shortly before events of The Story

She stands in the field, shining like the wildflowers around her. Her long, brown hair grazes her waist. Two braids are pulled back at the sides of her head, each elegantly overflowing with flowers. The smile she casts over her shoulder makes me weak in the knees, and the world around me shrinks until all I see is her. Spinning with her hands outstretched, loose strands of hair caressing her fair face, her silken laugh floats through the air into the very depths of my soul.

“What?” she giggles.

I realize I am staring, and I smile. “Nothing. You’re just…stunning.”

She purses her lips and saunters over to me. She wraps her pale arms around my neck and gazes into my eyes. Their golden hew is speckled with brown and flecks of yellow, a constellation I cannot look away from.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, is it not?” she whispers.

I shake my head. “You are beauty.”

She laughs. It’s a sound sweeter than sugar and softer than a morning breeze. I soak it in and let it ease my soul as I wrap her in a hug, closing my eyes and inhaling her scent. Roses and pine, with a hint of freshly baked bread. I feel my smile deepen. Her laugh echoes in my ears. Then, it grows distant. I frown, wondering how that could be. I am holding her. But still, the sound fades.

“Mary?” I ask with my eyes closed and my arms tightening around her thin frame, trying to keep her close. “Don’t go,” I whisper. Tears sting my eyes as I hear her laugh fade still further. I try to open my eyes. I must see her again. But…

My eyes snap open. I am staring up at the night sky; hot tears slip down my temples. Stars sparkle between slow-traveling clouds. My heart shatters as the sound of her laugh vanishes into the night.