Glass roses, gilt-edged with gold, smashed and splintered.
He sits among them, the broken shards of his life.
She has gone now, the fire and the fury.
She will return, he knows.
She will do it again.
Why does he put up with it?
That abstract notion of love? Loyalty?
Or shame? Shame that a woman can bully and subjugate a man.
He should be strong, he should stand up to her.
But he can’t bring himself to hurt her, in spite of it all.
He picks up a splintered petal, sharp golden edge glinting.
Here is a way out.
Written as part of the Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (more details HERE). The idea is to write a short story of 100 words based on the photo prompt (above).
To read stories of 100 words based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.
My first novel, ‘A Justified State,’ is available now
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Iain Kelly 
You’ve touched on a current topic, Iain. There’s a documentary about male victims of domestic abuse. And domestic violence (both genders) is a topic close to my heart. Very well done Iain, on shedding light on this issue!
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Thank you so much Fatima 🙂
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As Fatima says, this is a very real issue and you handle it with such poignancy. That emasculation is such a terrible thing and that comes through very strongly. Wonderful writing, as always Iain
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Thank you Lynn 🙂
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My pleasure 🙂
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