Stump
Sudha Balagopal
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I discover the collapsed saguaro in our yard on the day my daughter, Pia, must leave for college. The thirty-foot cactus lies splayed across desert landscaping.
Cactus wrens nested inside the saguaro. The gooey insides of their eggs now stick to weeds, shell fragments spread, scattered like confetti.
We loaded the car the night before.
Pia presses the car’s horn, yells, “Hurry up!”
“How do I clear this?” I ask Pia. “Look at the thorny spines.”
Pia’s texting in the passenger seat. “Huh?” Her thumbs pause their rapid-dance. “Mom, my roommate’s already there.”
“Didn’t someone say saguaros are protected?” I ask as I drive. “Would I be breaking the law if I clear the mess?”
“That damn thing just fell.”
“But they won’t know that.” I have no idea who “they” are. “We’ve had too much unexpected rain for the poor saguaro.”
“Will you stop fretting?” Pia throws the phone into her bag. “The birds made holes for nests inside the saguaro and they weakened the old cactus. It fell. End of story.”
Bird droppings map my windshield. “Those eggs could’ve hatched. Poor parents. No babies, no home.”
“Birds will find homes elsewhere.” Pia says.
Inside her dorm room, my chest tightens. I want to linger over lunch, ice-cream, unpacking. I want to make her bed with the brand-new sheets, set out photos.
She’s already making plans to get coffee with her new roommate. I give Pia a quick hug. She doesn’t like long goodbyes.
When I return home, there’s a business card on my doorstep: Jose, The Yard Guy.
Jose slices the cactus into chunks, uses long tongs to lift and place them in his truck. “The roots are too strong. This is as far as I can get.” He points to the stump when he’s done.
After he leaves, I sit on the stub, hug my arms in the emptiness, a confetti of eggshells at my feet.
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Sudha Balagopal’s writing appears in CRAFT, Split Lip, and Smokelong Quarterly among other journals. Her novella-in-flash, Things I Can’t Tell Amma, was published by Ad Hoc Fiction in 2021. Her full-length flash collection is forthcoming from Alternating Current Press in 2024. She has had stories included in Best Microfiction, Best Small Fictions and The Wigleaf Top 50.
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Posted in All Flash: Spice of Life Jan '24 and tagged in #boudin, #flashfiction, #microfiction, Fiction