Josie hadn’t realised her newly polished nails dug deep into the fleshy stems despite the thorns puncturing her skin causing thin trails of blood to trickle down her wrist, forming tiny droplets that fell unseen onto her silk dress. She clutched her father’s arm, pulling back slightly in her hesitancy to complete the short walk to the new chapter in her life; he patted her hand gently, giving her a reassuring smile, remembering well the nerves that toyed with his emotions thirty years ago.
Closer she walked, not registering the friendly faces gazing upon her, not seeing the smiling face of her groom, not hearing the music over the wild, erratic beating of her heart. Instead, etched on her eyes, words not meant for her, words now spiralling around her head, words digging deep like a blade.
“Nothing needs to change between us Aaron, just cos you’re getting hitched lol,” were the fracturing words Josie read on the way to the church, ”I’ll be waiting Babes, love Amy.”
Written for Lillie Mcferrin's Five Sentence Fiction where you can read all the other stories for this week's prompt- clutch.
