Member-only story
FLASH FICTION
When I Wake
A short story
“How is he?” whispers a voice like my sister’s.
“He has grown much worse, I fear,” says the physician. “The buboes in his neck and thighs have swollen since my last visit.”
“Lord, have mercy,” she pleads. “Please, sir, save my dear brother.”
All has become a haze these last few days. The faces that enter my room never seem to be the same, though their voices sound so familiar. The only thing I can hold on to is that my birthday draws near, and even that I cannot swear to.
I look to the figures by my bed, my eyes straining to stay open, then down to my thighs, where the black swellings have grown. I reach to touch one, and a hand swats mine away.
“Do not touch those, Master William,” says the physician. His palm presses to my forehead. “Dear God, he burns. Quickly, Elizabeth, fetch water.”
My vision, weaker still, drifts to my ankle. A dark mark covers what was once a tiny, itching red spot. I thought nothing of it the day I cleared the rats from the barn. My mind drifts back.
The day was close and humid, one of the hottest of the year. Mother had asked me to rid the barn of vermin, for many of the animals had fallen ill of late. A few of my friends were kind enough to lend me…
