Christine Balke

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2022

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“Ashen Inheritance ” by Christine Balke

Submitted to Contest #158

Frail hands, stained by nicotine and time, reach out shakily for the third cigarette in the space of an hour. The man of my dreams is reliably consistent when it comes to his smoking habits. A young man of 82 years and everything I could and have ever wanted in a husband. “Please,” he croaks as I hold the cigarette just out of his reach. I sigh before relenting, “but darling, you really know you shouldn’t. The Doctor…” “Pah, the doctor knows nothing.” He sucks in a deep lungful of smoke and holds it in his chest, savouring the...

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