Lying on her bed, Bella could finally move her legs; flexing and testing their strength, she waved an arm with glee.
When they held a mirror to her face, she gurgled.
“Mama!”
“That’s right, Bella,” said the brain surgeon.
Bella’s children sat quietly nearby. They hoped she would recover fully.
Margaret McGoverne is currently writing her first full length novel, while being distracted by short stories, flash fiction and her blog about all things writing.
Brilliant. My biases tricked me into believing the character was a young girl until the last line. Very enlightening 50-Word story. The use of names rather than generic pronouns offers so much more to a story. This story is a perfect example of how the use of “Bella” added to my bias, since I immediately associated the name Bella with a young girl. You’ve accomplished a great deal in a short space. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you very much James, I’m really glad you enjoyed it. My mother had a stroke when I was very young and it was painful to watch her recovery, it was a second, arduous childhood for her. Her name is Isabell and I agree, Bella does sound like a young girl’s name, which suggested the story to me.