A slate-colored kitten wandered up to the house and you said, “Don’t feed him or we’ll have a cat.” But I did, and Blue Cat was your companion for thirteen years. When you became ill and spent days in bed, the feline stayed by your side. That year the vet diagnosed the cat with advanced heart failure. You looked at me and said, “I thought he would last longer than me.”

The next week I bought a stuffed blue bear at the Dollar Store. I was surprised, but pleased when you laid it on your extra pillow. Later, the blue bear sat at the foot of your hospital bed. When you moved to the nursing home, the bear served as conversation piece for visitors and caregivers. In the end, you went to the grave with the blue bear tucked beneath your arm.

burial wish ... 
my husband’s hat 
upon my breast 

Lynn Edge

has written haibun since 2002. Her collection Unsaddled was published in 2022 by Red Moon Press. Her first haibun story, “Year of the Farrier” [see link below], was selected for inclusion in the Best Small Fictions 2024 anthology. Her work is published in Contemporary Haibun Online, Frogpond, Haibun Today, MacQueen’s Quinterly, and other online and print journals.

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Year of the Farrier, haibun story by Lynn Edge in Issue 20 of MacQueen’s Quinterly (September 2023). Nominated for the Red Moon Anthologies and the Best Small Fictions anthology; and selected for inclusion in Contemporary Haibun 19 (Red Moon Press, 2024), as well as Best Small Fictions 2024 (Alternating Currents Press).