Today I’m sharing an empowering post by Sally Cronin of the Smorgasbord Invitation. Sally has published several books and many of them are themed with short stories.  Sally has generously shared one of these short stories today from her book -Flights of Fancy. This story reflects on decisions we make in life when it comes to ‘self’ and Sally sums it up nicely in this tale of self-love and empowerment.

 

Getting Away with Murder.

On my forty-third birthday, I murdered a woman. She made me do it. For over fifteen years, she had made my very life, a misery and a mockery. This woman had bullied and forced me into behaviour that had made me ashamed, fearful for my life and sanity. She jeopardized my health and destroyed my self-esteem.

As I stand before you, I freely admit to this killing. I realise that this is my chance to have my say, to explain and to acknowledge this deed of mine. Firstly, let me say, that given the chance, I would kill her all over again. I can show you no remorse or guilt. I cannot stand before you with head bowed and accept your condemnation. It was self-defence in every sense of the word.

This woman came into my life one dreary, wet Irish day, when the clouds met the horizon in a solid sheet of grey. I usually came to the beach when I felt a bit down, sometimes the water washed away my blues, but today the chill wind simply intensified my mood. I didn’t even notice her approaching me. One minute I was alone, and the next she was beside me.

“You look a little sad dear, is there anything I can do to help?”

I looked at her and saw a homely, motherly type of woman, with a gentle, slightly worried look on her face.

“I’m fine, thank you.” I replied, trying to smile warmly, as if I didn’t  have a care in the world.

How come then, ten minutes later, I find myself at a table at the almost deserted seaside café, pouring my heart out to this complete stranger? My husband loved me whatever weight I was, but I knew that others were not so forgiving. I dragged up baggage from my past and held onto it defiantly; determined not to let go of the weight of it. Self-pity flowed like hot lava from my mouth, and she sat quietly, listening intently and nodding her head from time to time. . . .Please continue reading

 

Other short story anthologies by Sally Cronin:

 

You can find all Sally’s books at these links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sally-Cronin/e/B0096REZM2

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sally-Georgina-Cronin/e/B003B7O0T6

Smashwords for Epub:https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/SallyGCronin

More reviews can be found on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7979187.Sally_Cronin

 

Source: Smorgasbord Short Stories – Flights of Fancy – Getting Away with Murder by Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life