The Doctor Warned Us
Louella Lester
Issue One: What Scares You (October 2024)
When we visited she lay in bed, her favourite childhood stuffed toy, the worn out almost furless Wolfy, resting next to her. Even though we knew it was coming, it was still a surprise when bits of her started to disappear. The tip of her nose. A pinky finger. Those flaps that once hung under her arms. As she dwindled Wolfy grew. Her left eye. Her right breast. Both knees. He crowded the pillow beside her. While she still had lips she was able to speak, but some vocal cords were missing, so the words came in raspy whispers hard to interpret, especially when Wolfy’s throaty growls drowned her out. Her eyebrows. Her eyelashes. Her once lush head of hair. On the final day, we arrived too late. Nothing left, but her nightgown wilted on the bed. Out the window, we glimpsed Wolfy, now plump and plush, disappearing into the woods.
About
Louella Lester
Louella Lester is a writer/photographer in Winnipeg, Canada, author of Glass Bricks (At Bay Press), a contributing editor at New Flash Fiction Review, and has a story included in Best Microfiction 2024. Recent writing appears/will appear in: Odd Magazine, Your Impossible Voice, Yellow Mama, Roi Faineant, 50-Word Story, the Dribble Drabble Review, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Gooseberry Pie, Paragraph Planet, Hooghly Review, Bright Flash, Cult. Magazine, and SoFloPoJo.