[Flash Fiction] The Bone Violin

Title: The Bone Violin

Genre: Speculative

Word Count: 168 words.

Notes: You can find more of my published fiction, as well as free fiction, here.

He carves the violin from his brother’s rib, polishes it smooth with his own breath. The strings are fine as spider silk, spun from hair that once belonged to someone he loved.

When he plays, the song is a heartbeat, a lullaby, a sob caught in a throat. The notes are fragile things, brittle as old bone, but the dead listen.

They gather at the edges of the firelight, shadows cast long on the walls, mouths moving soundlessly.

He does not stop. Not when his fingers split, not when his own bones begin to tremble with memory.

The song is not for the dead. It is for him, for the weight of his brother’s name on his tongue, for the silence that followed after.

The violin hums, and for a moment—just one—he feels his brother’s hand on his shoulder. Solid. Real.

Then the music fades. The fire burns low. The shadows retreat.

He lays the violin down, careful, reverent. He does not need to play again.