Scott MacLeod

When Effie ended it, she killed Grote just as if she’d shot him through the eye. He would never recover. He hadn’t seen it coming. How could she do it? First, he acted like nothing had happened. Then stopped eating. Quit work. Became gaunt. Pale. Almost translucent. He haunted their usual spot. “Foxes on the Water”. Floated in. Sat in the back. Wreathed in cigarette smoke. An apparition. Scared the regulars. He was spooky as shit, no doubt about it. He might as well have been rattling iron chains. Moaning like a banshee. He returned to their old place. Their table. Night after night. 

Then one night he saw her come in. Couldn’t believe his eyes. 

He asked for one last dance. She didn’t say no. They’d taken that Arthur Murray class. Before the cruise. Was he really supposed to know a salsa from a mamba? Waltz tango foxtrot, indeed. All he could think about was banging the instructor. But he knew how to slow dance. Who didn’t? Every eighth grader had learned how to get up close and hold on for dear life, 

“Why did you go?” he finally asked. 

No answer. 

“Let him alone,” said Big Mike from behind the bar to anyone who raised an eyebrow. Grote spun slowly in tight spirals. Spectral. Wraithlike. Shuffling his feet, arms bowed out, fingers locked. From a distance it looked like he was holding out a hula hoop around her. Drifting and circling.

Alone. 

She wasn’t there. Hadn’t been there. Hadn’t been anywhere. For months. Not since the night she left him. The night she chased down those pills with Gentleman Jack. The night she wrote that note they showed him. It was hard to read it through the evidence bag. There are a lot of ways to break up with a guy. Killing yourself is just one of them. 

Scott’s prompts were: During a Break-Up, a Ghost, Dancing

Scott MacLeod is a father of two who writes in Central Florida. His work has appeared recently in various publications, with more forthcoming. His Son of Ugly weekly flash fiction newsletter can be found on Substack at https://scottmacleod1.substack.com Instagram @scottmacleod478, on X @ScottMacLe59594 and at http://www.facebook.com/scott.Macleod.334

Read more from Scott:

Here on Trash Cat Lit – ‘Oh Give Me a Home‘
On his Substack – ‘Son of Ugly‘ and ‘Strangers When We Meet‘