27 @StoryADayMay Hand of Judgment

The countdown has begun in earnest. Five days from the end of the challenge, I see the possibility of my finishing it.

Today’s story is short — STOP CHEERING! — in tribute to my new internet friends Nikita the Cat and his sister, Elvira, Mistress of Felinity. Their daddy, Kiril Kundurazieff, helps them post 100 word cat stories on their very own blog, The Opinionated Pussycat. This month, they’ve been chronicling the adventures of Aubrey, who was stolen from his boy but escaped captivity.

In honor of Nikita, Elvira, Aubrey, and Kiril, today’s story is exactly 100 words.

Hand of Judgment

by Marian Allen

How many times had his mother’s hand smacked his young bottom? How many meals had it helped prepare, helped serve? How many times had it gripped his head, turning his face toward his plate while his mother ordered him to eat so the children in Asia wouldn’t starve?

How many letters had it written his grown self, questioning his decisions, criticizing his choices, dampening his enthusiasms?

Hospital beeps marked time as he sat beside her bed, waiting, hoping. He took the offending hand between both of his, lifted it and kissed it.

Come back, he told it. All is forgiven.

~ * ~

MY PROMPT FOR TODAY: 5

MA