She woke up from bed and went to the bathroom. She had a decent night’s sleep. Her eyes were dusty with dried eye dirt. After her early morning ablutions, she left the bathroom to walk to the kitchen to make her beverage. She saw a ball of bright light walking, nay floating along, beside her. She was shocked but remained calm.
She had to reach her kitchen to make her first cup of coffee. She needed her coffee badly.
It accompanied her all the way to the entrance of the kitchen, and then disappeared at the partially open divider next to the main door. It disappeared as mysteriously as it came.
She entered her kitchen and went through the motions automatically. She felt fear. Who was the orb? She knew from reading stories that an orb is usually the remaining light of a deceased person. It appears as an orb, because it has a low level of energy and can not appear as a human being.
Who does the orb belong to? Who has died?
Her brother’s wife was sickly in her hometown. It might have been her. Where was her brother? He had left his wife staying with her parents, flying in to complete a business deal and visiting her. He could be in the guest room.
She walked out of the kitchen, to enter the hallway leading to the living room. Her brother was standing at the window, staring at his cell phone. The sitting room was still shrouded in the half light of early dawn. he stood at the window for light to see his cell. His thrifty habit prevented him from switching on the light.
He saw her but was not speaking.
She thought, “If his wife has died back in her hometown, he would be talking about it now.” She wanted to dismiss the orb as a stranger, unrelated to her and him.
She boiled water to make her coffee and sat in the dining room. She wanted to give her brother privacy in the sitting room. She started going through her morning routine.
She thought, “I should offer to make him coffee.” She followed her thought and asked him, “Can I make you a coffee?”
“Yes, thanks.”
He looked at her without seeming to focus on her.
She already had boiled water and another instant coffee was ready in seconds. She carried the mug to him.
“Is everything all right?”
“My wife, Serena, has died is hospital.”
“What? How?”
“Her organ failure had a bad turn and she died.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
She understood now. The orb was her sister-in-law.
Related:
The first six sentences is for “Six Sentence Stories” and
Denise hosts the prompt “dust” at Six Sentence Stories.
This rest of the story is written for photo prompt #(12) at https://artmater.com/photo-prompts-for-writing-no-expiry-date/