Memory Island

A Dystopian Flash Fiction Story

Ravyne Hawke

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

“I see you’ve found another one.”

I nod at the old woman sitting on her porch smoking a pipe. I don’t linger to
chat. I have to get on with my job. It’s an important one, but most people
say it’s creepy. I don’t care though.

I trudge on through the mud. Reach the small island in the center of the
swamp. To one side is a cave. It resembles a skull of all the lost lives here.
On the other side, a solitary tree stands. I go to it. Tie the limp figure on a
low branch. Light a candle. Say a prayer.

The Government keeps promising us a vaccine, but it’s been ten years now
since the plight. Keep trying, they say. Maybe the virus will work its way out
of the gene pool. Forget about what’s lost. I cannot forget. I refuse to forget.

I walk down the alley back toward my home. A window opens. An object
falls to the ground. I sigh as I bend down and pick it up. Another discarded
doll for the shrine. Another child has died.

©2020 Lori Carlson. All rights reserved.

Lori Carlson writes poetry, fiction, articles and personal essays. Most of her
topics are centered around Relationships, Spirituality, Life Lessons, Mental
Health, and the LGBTQ+ community. She currently writes for Loose Words,
POM , Illumination, The Friday Fix, House of Haiku, Know Thyself, Heal
Thyself, The Purple Pen, Blue Insights, a Few Words, Invisible Illness and
Tempest in Under 1000