FELICIA HEILGENDORFF

✨Author | Psychology & Mental Health Enthusiast | Advocate✨

Asleep on the Bench

She stabbed him one last time, staring into those round shocked eyes with a calm sense of relief. Dropping the knife that she had used at his feet, she left the corpse on the red bench. When she had nearly reached her house, her five-year-old son Robert bounced around the corner to greet her.

Alarmed she took him into her arms.

“Why aren’t you in the house with grandma?” she asked, trying to keep a steady voice.

He shrugged. “I wanted to go outside. Grandma didn’t.” Then he looked up at her, his face pulled into a frown, trying to make sense of his thoughts.

“Mommy, why is daddy lying on the red park bench? He looked like he was sleeping. Must’ve been a nightmare,” he added, pleased that he had recently learned what the word meant. “He looked rather frightened.”

© 2016

Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers, Week of February 9th 2016

Photo prompt provided by Ady

Felicia Heilgendorff

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15 responses to “Asleep on the Bench”

  1. mandibelle16

    I wonder what drove the mother to stab the father to death, indeed, it seems like a nightmare. She had best be careful with her son and the body. Great job.

    Reply
    1. Felicia Hf

      Thank you. She will have a hard time explaining to her son that the father is now dead and why he is.

      Reply
  2. Priceless Joy

    Well, he won’t be beating her and the little boy anymore! She put a stop to that! Wonderful story!

    Reply
    1. Felicia Hf

      She certainly did! Thank you.

      Reply
  3. jademwong

    I’d love to know why she resorted to stabbing him. Was she abused? Is she a sociopath?

    Great take on the prompt!

    Reply
    1. Felicia Hf

      I would say she was a sociopath, though there was definitely an abusive childhood lurking somewhere deep in her memory. Her husband was rather too shocked when she killed him… Though she went from viciously stabbing him to a certain calm and caring mood when she faced her son…

      Reply
      1. jademwong

        Ahhh intriguing. Great little backstory you’ve thought up for her.

  4. taleweavering

    A scary story with the ring of truth.
    I do wonder about the safety of other family members — such as her son and her grandmother. Though she did little to hide her role in the crime such as wear gloves!
    Great story telling

    Reply
    1. Felicia Hf

      I agree, I worry about her son’s safety. Who knows what he’ll be telling the grandma?
      All in all, she hadn’t planned the crime very well in advance.. Gloves would have been a smart move, but then again, where would she hide them afterwards? And she hadn’t planned on her son leaving the house either…

      Reply
      1. taleweavering

        Your bench story leaves so many possibilities to go deeper and farther. The start of a mystery/suspense story. With the boy as the key perhaps?

      2. Felicia Hf

        This could really be a great beginning to a suspense novel.. before I delve deeper into the background of the crime. The boy would definitely be a key. I know in my heart that his mother loves him, so she would never kill him. Which leaves the question what she could do with him now that he has seen the dead father…
        *running off suddenly with loads of new inspiration and ideas, a novel already half written, at least in my head…*

      3. taleweavering

        Novels must be written some place — starting in your head’s not so bad. ;]

  5. rogershipp

    Suddenly the word ‘frightened’ has a new meaning. I wonder how much of ‘life’ the poor kid saw?

    Reply
    1. Felicia Hf

      True – the child’s understanding of the word. He only knows life; death is a completely new concept that he has yet to be introduced to…

      Reply
  6. The Liebster Award | Felicia Hf – Blog

    […] proudest piece that I have posted on my blog is either A is for Alphabet, or Asleep on the Bench. The first of which, because upon seeing the photo I thought it was a really hard one and it took […]

    Reply

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