Waiting for the Returning Tide

Posted on by Louise Bunting
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Photo Prompt – © The Storyteller’s Abode

Waiting for the Returning Tide

“Suzy would’ve loved it here,” Janet said, her gaze fixed on the panoply of vessels bobbing idly in their moorings. “She was always fascinated by boats. Do you remember? They filled the bathtub!”

“I remember.”

“She was such a happy child. And that smile was so infectious. But she was always so desperate for adventure.” Janet halted, ‘if-onlys’ running through her mind as she listened to the seagulls cry. She sighed. “I should never have let her learn to sail.”

“I doubt you could have stopped her.”

“I could’ve tried.”

She lapsed into silence. Peter remained, a reassuringly steady presence at her side.

“We should head back,” he finally said. Rising, he offered her a supportive hand. “Visiting hours start again soon.”

“Hmm. We can tell Suzy all about our outing.” She took a last look at the boats before turning away. “Do you think she’ll ever wake up?”

“We can only hope, my dear.” Peter squeezed her hand as they walked back towards the hospital. “Suzy would say that, eventually, every tide has to turn.”

Word Count: 175

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This post is for Priceless Joy’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers challenge. This week’s prompt was provided by me. It was taken in St Ives, a seaside town in Cornwall that I visited last year. If you’d like to know more about St Ives, my mum, Millie Thom, wrote a post about the place that you can find here.

20 thoughts on “Waiting for the Returning Tide”

  3. OH good job! I could feel the parent’s pain and the mom’s guilt. That famous “If only..”, though they do no good at all and we can’t let ourselves fall into those guilt traps. I like how it ended with hope, there is always hope!

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  6. So sad. But you can’t wrap them in cotton wool. Though if I were a parent I would probably try.
    At least there’s a little hope there. Suzy sounds like a fighter.

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  7. every tide has to turn and it will for there is a ray of hope. suzy seems to determined to do what her heart wishes to do.

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  9. So sad when tragedy happens and people are feeling partially responsible be cause of something they allowed their child to learn…like learning how to sail. Risks are a part of life and a way of learning but it’s never easy when things go wrong. Wonderful story expressing the regrets and hope for things to get better.

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