by Nick Hayden
February 21, 2015
For the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing flash fiction stories that examine small, emotional moments in our characters’ lives that don’t fit in the normal narratives. We hope you enjoy!
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A Good Man
Read more about Governor Vac in our first collection!
“Delia Coonhill is asking to see you, Governor.”
Governor Vac looked up from his papers. He was a man not often shocked, but the soldier’s announcement had elicited an emotion very near that. “Send her in.” He gathered up the reports and stored them in a drawer. Delia Coonhill might be the wife of his former Head of Intelligence, but she wasn’t cleared for the information on the reports.
In walked a diminutive, round-faced woman in a simple black dress adorned with a few white frills. Though nearly forty, she still looked like a child, with those dimples and big eyes. Her gait bore a weariness that betrayed her face.
“Good evening, Governor.”
He stood and pulled a wooden chair from the corner to the front of his desk. “Sit, please.”
“Thank you.”
She sat lightly, on the edge of the seat. She clutched a bottle of some sort of liquor to her chest. Vac had last seen her at the funeral, a week ago. He had offered a few words of condolences. Besides that, they had not spoken. They rarely had.
“I brought you this.” She extended the bottle to him. He took it, examining it. Her husband was dead in his service. He did not trust the contents.
“What is it for?”
“Drinking, usually.” She did not smile, but her eyes glimmered briefly. (more…)
