The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Her Special Day
by Angela Yuriko Smith

This is my special day, the moment I have waited for, my chance to be a queen. It’s the day my family brings me flowers, dresses me in jewels, and tells me I am beautiful. A tiara, a veil, and a dress that costs more than my rent adorn me, and for this day, this most special of days, I am a queen…

…but why am I celebrated on just one day? Am I a queen, or an offering? Draped in veils, the sacrificial lamb, your bride bribe, your constructed perfection. I stand amidst the lights, a silent centerpiece. My wishes dissolve into the folds of satin, my voice muffled beneath the veil.

Fairy lights flicker.
Borrowed time in rented silk—
Whose dream is this now?

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Fiction © Copyright Angela Yuriko Smith
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

More from Angela Yuriko Smith:

Angela Yuriko Smith is a third-generation Ryukyuan-American, award-winning poet, author, and publisher with 20+ years in newspapers. Publisher of Space and Time magazine (est. 1966), two-time Bram Stoker Awards® Winner, and HWA Mentor of the Year, she shares Authortunities, a free weekly calendar of author opportunities at authortunities.substack.com.