The Day Grace became more 'Water'
A Micro Fiction by Stephanie Percival
After weeks of heatwave, the night was once again stifling; Grace couldn’t sleep, her sweat-slicked body damp, then she heard rain smashing against the window pane; she shook her head, it sloshed making her dizzy, and she realised she’d transformed into a puddle of liquid, she moved easily over the bulk of her snoring husband, splashed onto the floor, saw the baby was sleeping, his breathing steady, didn’t let the odour of soiled nappy make her tremble as usual, but flowed on passed dumped clothing, discarded toys and feeling lithe, slipped under the front door, giggling into the street where raindrops merged, and they gushed together along gutters, into the dried river bed, as excitement fizzed through Grace, moving around obstacles, over rocks, tree roots; nothing could stop her, suddenly she smelled salt tanging the air, brine pulsing through her, and couldn’t remember when she’d last been to the seaside, tied up with Baby and keeping house, she’d longed to visit but the longing eased as she dived and floated, and as the rain abated, sun breaking through, Grace refracted rainbows.
Calm now she flowed back home. In the house the air was cool, she glided into bed and slept.
Author: Stephanie began writing after being shortlisted for the BBC End of Story competition. She enjoys writing in different styles and genres, and has been short, long-listed and won several writing competitions. In 2020 her novel, ‘All the Trees in the Wood,’ was short-listed in the Agora, Work in Progress Prize.