W H AT

the

F A T E S

A L L O W

The new house was to be off-white: Mrs Short was a housewife at heart.

She smiled contentedly, bustling outside with a tray of ambrosia lemonade. Things were looking up: retirement, Holly’s graduation—

She nearly spilt the drinks at the sight. Holly, brandishing her paintbrush like a police baton, marching under the ladder as if it were the Atlantean Arch!—and Mr Short, watching his daughter parade beneath him, saluting her with his own paintbrush, smiling—

“Holly!—”

Magic cannot fix a broken neck any more than a broken heart: Holly joined the LEP the next day.

The house remains unpainted.

:i:

For the af100 prompt ‘ladder’ and the drabble100 prompt ‘parents’.