Anna felt like a free person, walking barefoot on the sand. The waves washed her feet and the footprints she left behind in time.
Then, suddenly, a high tide of memories would encapsulate her in the existence she left behind. She had lived in terror. She feared that at any moment someone would yell at her, saying she wasn’t living up to expectations.
“I cut my feet yesterday. The granites and schists of my dark and stubborn country occasionally show up in the rocks. But the wound is healing beneath bandages of my rediscovered self, and I hope to be walking again on the beach.” She texted her cousin, who was single and never understood Anna’s predicament.
Was the drowning accidental or suicidal in a depressive bout? Her cousin wonders as she walks along the same beach in Anna’s footsteps – with an abusive partner.
Prosery: Dark and Stubborn Country
Prompt line
“The granites and schists
Of my dark and stubborn country.”
–Nan Shepherd, “The Hill Burns”
Creative Experiments and More 
A powerful and dark, but sadly, so often true story, Reena, well told…
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Thank you, Frewin!
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Here’s A Reminder That Change Is Constant
https://julesinflashyfiction.wordpress.com/2025/12/11/nd-12-11-xxv-haibun/
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Your verse reminded me of a movie, where a woman did end up escaping her abusive husband. He eventually found her, but her new beau was able to save her…
Sad when the true can’t be figured out. One can only hope the cousin doesn’t have the same ending.
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Fiction arranges for a hero to appear as a saviour, as the hero’s character needs to be built up. It may not happen in real life.
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I knew a gal whose took her abusing partner back because she was tying to get money owed her. She got her money and beat up one last time… but she survived and then dumped him.
Some victims are luckier than others.
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She was smart 🤓
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I wouldn’t have had him back for that extra money…getting beat up for it wasn’t so smart. But in the end getting away – was.
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🙂
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Reena, good job of describing how past trauma washes over us like waves. I also have to wonder if there is a 3rd option on what happened to Anna 😦
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Let me know if you strike upon a possibility 🙂
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A very effortless incorporation of the prompt lines.
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This means a lot to me 🙂 Thanks!
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I really hope that it was not a real suicide but just a way of escaping.
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I hope so too.
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“bandages of my rediscovered self, “
Very nicely said
much♡love
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Thank you so much, Gillena!
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Yikes! I hope both Anna and her cousin will be OK!
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Anna is no more 😦
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😪
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