Flash Fiction: The Rose
Written by Emma Mathes
Photo by Drishti Verma
Why did she keep it? If you asked her herself, she wouldn’t know what to say.
Her space is always spotless. Her rooms are white on white interior design that stay constantly clean. At eight, she was diagnosed with obsessive compulsions, and anyone who saw her apartment would assume just as much.
But the rose remains on her vanity. It provides the only color not hidden behind closet doors and pearl white drawers. When the petals wilted, she cleaned around it. By now it is crusty; its life drained. But still, she maintains it. She loves it, and the life it once held.
