Can you hold up a mirror to yourself and say that you are entirely innocent? That you are not in some way to blame?

That was the thought that had brought Dominic out onto the street.

He hadn’t been the one shouting, taunting, calling her the names: ‘Fatty’, ‘Chunk’, ‘Porky.’ He hadn’t laughed while watching on like some of the others.

But he had seen it happening and he had done nothing to stop it. They could all see how upset she was. Her tears and anger only brought more insults and still none of them stepped in to defend her.

It had all seemed like a joke. Part of growing up. Playground bullying, sure, but doesn’t everyone suffer from that at some point?

He walked with his classmates now, with her family and the local community. A silent walk through grey streets. The worst offenders were not to be seen, but many knew they had been complicit.

They reached the pond where she had been found. It was still, like glass. Their faces were reflected back at them, a mirror that forced them to confront what had happened. A silent vigil of the shamed, the guilty and the bereft. The silence was broken only by the sobs that could not be contained.

Drowning, the coroner had declared, suicide, no suspicious circumstances.

Dominic knew better. They all did.

This is a response to the #writephoto Prompt – Mirror curated over at Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo. Click on the link to read other stories inspired by the image.

I’m excited to announce my second novel, ‘State Of Denial’, a sequel to last year’s ‘A Justified State’, will be published on the 27th September 2019.

The Amazon Kindle version is available to pre-order now through the following links:

Amazon.com    Amazon.co.uk    Amazon.ca    Amazon.com.au    Amazon.in

The paperback version will be published simultaneously on the 27th of September.

Thank you to all those who have already bought and read ‘A Justified State’ and for the many kind reviews and comments. I hope you will enjoy the sequel and how the story continues just as much.

For those who want to see how the story begins, ‘A Justified State’ is available now on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle:

Amazon.com    Amazon.co.uk    Amazon.ca    Amazon.com.au    Amazon.in