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PHOTO PROMPT – Copyright – Jan Wayne Fields
Giving Thanks
©January 16th, 2015
By Vijaya Sundaram
Genre: Realistic, depressing fiction
Word Count: 100 words
It’s Thanksgiving.
I’ve set the table. There’s no one here — just me. My father vanished six months ago. My mother was diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer after that. She died last month. My sister, eighteen years old, eloped with her young, handsome college professor after that. He was fired. They moved to Montana.
Standing by the window, I’m blank as new-fallen snow. There isn’t any snow, though.
I bring the food out — mashed potatoes, canned soup, bread, butter.
I sit down, raise an empty glass to an empty room.
“To my family,” I whisper, and begin laughing uncontrollably.