(Some chilling, published Flash Fiction)

Never Touched Her

by

R.M. Garabedian

I didn’t know how it would end.

We’d decided to stick to our plans for a visit to the Maine coast, despite a hurricane farther south. Our marriage or divorce needed it—we both seemed to believe that churning surf would either end us forever or help us achieve that last pull to mend us.

Dusk.

She ventured onto large rocks.

A high wave slickened her footing.

She fell.

For a moment she appeared still within a maelstrom, looking up at me, seeming not so much panicked as weary.

Water heaved, crashed. Currents removed her from sight.

I lit a cigarette, cupping my hand to protect the flame from the wind.