Photo credit: Melanie Greenwood
Tangling Roots
She heard the seductive call drift in on the soft breeze that brushed her ear, “Come and dance”. Was it the tumor speaking or did the maze actually beckon her? The hopeless grinding assault on her breast had left her drained and devoid of her own voice. She had been whole once and the maze would not have frightened her then. She hesitated, unsure of her path. Another heartbeat and she lifted her face to the sun and took the first step. The maze like her cancer journey was fraught with blind curves, endless swatches of darkness, tangling roots, and a dead end.
What's for dinner, Doc? 
It’s too bad the cancer treatment was a dead end. It makes me think this is her final path. This has a nice descriptive quality. Nicely written, piece.
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Yes, a final path. I think cancer patients always feel a bit lost on their journey and traveling through to somewhere else is a common theme among the dying. Thank you Amy.
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I thought so. Thanks, Tracey.
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Very nice. Perhaps a new beginning? There’s a sappy song about every new beginning being another new beginnings end . . . gets me every time. We can only hope.
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Yes, Nancy. Perhaps this was just a dark moment. We should never stop hoping.
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You have written the journey well. I see it as a merry-go-round but a maze works even better. I particularly liked her uncertainty as to whether it was the tumour talking. She had lost her own voice but your voice was strong and direct.
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Thank you Irene. I have had the great privilege of being my patients’ voice many times in my career.
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Good they had you to give them voice.
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That’s a tough call. I know a young lad who has only weeks to live – no treatment left for him – just morphine.
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I’m sorry Patrick. Sometimes the only thing we can do is get out of the way and let others pass out of this life.
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My first response was, oh this is sad. It felt like hopelessness. Then, I realized that it could be the cancer that comes to a dead-end (in other words it is conquered and eradicated. My hope is for the latter.
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Yes, perhaps so Joy. A first step could take you to many destination.
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Dear Tracey,
Welcome to Friday Fictioneers. That was quite a journey that touched me. I recently had a scare but tests showed that a spot was non-cancerous.
Well done story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you for reading and hosting Rochelle. When we are faced with any illness or even a scare, we feel uncertain and frightened. Those are the emotions that spoke to me when I saw this weeks photo.
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I can feel myself there with her. Life is like a maze, full of expected turns and twists, but then that is the challenge to see if we can work our way through. Love your piece.
Lily
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Thank you Lily
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Beautiful and sad. Nicely written.
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Stacey, it’s so interesting how some readers were hopeful while others were sad. I felt the hopelessness of cancer when I wrote it. You should write for Friday Fictioneers.
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Well done. Lots of feeling here.
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Thank you Judith
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A dead end.. I had so hoped for a sweet end in a gazebo instead.. so often these mazes have those ends though,
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Flash fiction is so interesting because we only have a few seconds to wonder about and hope for a happy ending and yet we still do it. Hope is so powerful. Thanks for stopping by Bjorn.
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Very sad. Effective imagery to connect the maze to her journey. I’m sorry there’s no exit for her.
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Thank you Margaret
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Hey Tracey! It was a sad story, I wish her a better outcome. Great writing, well done! š
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Thanks Arl, I can’t bake so I write. Ha ha
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