Smoke

By Nick Lord Lancaster

A friend showed me a photograph he’d taken of his family on bonfire night. They’d had a firework display and bonfire in their garden, with the whole family there; the first time they’d all been together since his father’s funeral, three months earlier. The photo was of them all standing in front of the fire, grinning and holding sparklers.

Behind them, he said, the smoke from the fire had formed an image of his late father. Squinting, I could just make out a vague semblance of a face, although I thought it looked more like Kenny Rogers, to be honest.

           
Nick Lord Lancaster lives in Essex with his wife and two daughters (one human, one canine).