DEATH OF A MAYFLY - Chapter 9
Click the above voiceover to hear this chapter read by Walter Rhein of I’d Rather Be Writing.
She never had a name and left Earthside known only to God and myself. Otis came back without an apology. He saw the bruising, the changing shape of my body, but never asked a single thing about her. He seemed to have changed, as well, or maybe he really hadn’t, drinking all of his waking hours, hitting instead of talking. Sometimes I’d have to come down into town to find him for dinner, slumped over his steering wheel outside of the bar. Other days he made it home, crashing into the porch after a bender and falling into the dirt. I’d cover my head with a pillow, waiting for the jarring clash of metal and wood outside the front door as the old trailer slid on its foundation.
He got a job at the railroad tracks with men who looked and acted just like him, their broken wives cowering away at home, powdering their bruises and tucking them quietly under high collars and long sleeves. And after work they’d gamble, drink, and go home with anyone they pleased until they ran out of food or money or power. Then they came stumbling back to a wife who never complained, never ran away, always with hot food on the table. Year, after year, after year.
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 10
Copyright© 2025 Eleanor Leonard All Rights Reserved
Ellie is an author, editor, and owner of Red Pencil Transcripts, and works with filmmakers, podcasts, and journalists all over the world. She lives with her family just outside of New York City.
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Your story is riveting and the characters are so well portrayed. I want to point out what was probably an autocorrect: the music term should be ritard, not retard. Keep up the good work!
Yay!!!!!!!