Eleonora Balsano
To the heartbroken girl sobbing in the street at 5 am I’d say, Hang on in there, you’re getting stronger.
To the exhausted mother taking the motorway at midnight, her sleepless, screaming baby strapped in the car seat, I’d say, You’re doing it right.
To the fifty-three-year-old woman lying awake beside her husband at night and wondering, will I ever fall in love again? I’d say, It’s up to you.
To the white-haired lady in neon earrings and battered old fur crossing my street every morning, her steps heavy and tired, her chin powdered and fierce, I’d say, Please take my hand.
Tell me that all these years, the crushed hopes, the slivers of joy, the nights of despair, will make sense in the end.
That I, like the others, will make it alive.
This story won Third Prize in the Online Flash Fest Micro Competition.
About the author: Eleonora Balsano is a journalist and writer based in Brussels, EU. Her short fiction has been featured or is forthcoming on publications such as FlashFlood, Retreat West, Micro, Fictive Dream and others. Eleonora lives with her husband, three sons and a feisty Jack Russell.