by Jade Palmer
When Grandma Flo says, “here, before you go, I want you to have this,” I think, oh no, not another useless trinket that will be stacked in the ever-closed closet of my childhood bedroom, she thinks she can sluff off all her old stuff on me just because she is about to d- and then she pulls out a rose gold pocket mirror with an Art Nouveau girl embossed on the top and puts it in my hand and it’s really quite ornate so I say, “wow, Grandma, this is really beautiful, thank you so much,” and then the Art Nouveau girl says, “you are going to have to write a poem for her funeral someday,” and I say, “I know,” and Grandma Flo says, “what,” and I say, “what,” and then actually in my head this time I think, oh fuck, and that’s when I notice Grandpa Wilson’s watery dementia eyes that are onyx and unmoving from the leather armchair in the corner and then the Art Nouveau girl says, “maybe he knows the most out of all of us,” and I kind of think she’s right even though I don’t say it but then Grandma Flo says, “what a shame Wilson’s great mind has escaped him,” pursing her lips and shaking her head staring right into the stones and I think, wow that was pretty cold-hearted, and the metal bottom of the mirror heats up in my palm and I feel a slender hand slither up my throat and I say, “have a good day, Wilson,” and Grandpa Wilson’s mouth hangs open a hundred leagues deep a well with no water at the bottom just a waft of old-meat-on-the-counter smell coming from his maw then Grandma Flo says, “lovely to see you, take care,” and I say, “lovely to see you too, Grandma,” and I kind of mean it I guess and then the door is swinging close close close and Grandpa Will says, “thank you,” and Grandma Flo looks at him and I look at him and the Art Nouveau girl sighs and the knob clicks shut.
Jade Palmer (she/her) is pursuing a BA Honours in English and creative writing and a minor in sexuality studies at Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. She served as co-editor-in-chief of Soliloquies Anthology, Concordia’s undergraduate literary journal, during the 2022-2023 academic year. Her work has previously been published in long con magazine, and is forthcoming in yolk.
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