3 May 2024 part 1

This was my first attempt at concluding this short story for Perish Song and Lily. I wasn’t particularly happy with it; it put too much emphasis on the sorrow and grief of the situation, with very little on either Lily or the comfort Ida and Johanne found. And I think there were connections that needed to be more explicit.

Ida watched as Lily wept over her boy, and nearly started to weep herself. She’d known it was a hopeless fight, and watching the young girl push herself to her limits to try and give Johanne even a slightly better chance broke Ida’s heart.

So when Lily started to sing, Ida was surprised. She couldn’t make out the words, but she watched as Johanne relaxed for the first time since the fever took hold of him. The air stilled, as if the world paused to listen to Lily’s song. Goosebumps covered Ida’s arms, though whether from the strangeness or the sudden chill, she couldn’t say.

Whatever reservations Ida had, though, stopped completely when the spectral form of her husband strode past her into the room. He nodded at her and smiled, then knelt beside Johanne. The boy’s body stilled, and then his spirit sat up, and looked around. Ida would never forget the expression of sheer joy Johanne’s face when he saw his father there.

Ida’s husband helped Johanne to his feet, and the two bowed to Ida before they turned to leave through the back door.

“Wait!” she called out, and rushed after them. As soon as she stepped outside, however, she was greeted by a wall of fog encircling her home. 

Her husband turned back, and held out a hand to stop her. He said something, though Ida couldn’t hear it, and gave her a sad smile. Then he took Johanne’s hand, and the two left, walking into the fog out of sight.

Ida nearly followed them anyway; what was the point of living when her whole family was gone? But she shook her head and turned back into the house. A few moments later, Lily’s song finished, and warmth flooded back into the area.