#Short Story #100words

Benediction - A Short Story

31st March 2025

He staggers home as dusk blotches the flushed-gold canvas of sky.
Coconut tree shadows dance on water-lilies dotting the lake: blush pink bowls on moss green plates.
Neighbourhood dogs fight for scraps dislodging clumps of dry red mud.
His wife whips him with the hibiscus branch used to shoo the chickens, for drinking away the day’s earnings.
He slumps beneath the guava and night jasmine; the earthy smell of cow-dung mixing with the pungent reek of toddy evaporating from his pores.
Lights, Drum roll.
The clouds perform.
He opens his mouth and the fat, sweet drops on his parched tongue feel like benediction.