When the bag holding the box came through the security scan at the airport, she quickly retrieved it. She was so relieved that nobody had questioned the contents.
As she walked the concourse to find her gate, another traveler had bumped hard against the bag. She quickly stopped and checked to make sure the contents were still secure.
After boarding, she held the bag on her lap.
“Would you like me to put that in the overhead compartment?” the stewardess asked.
She shook her head. “I’d prefer to hold it,” she said.
“You can’t have it on your lap during take-off or landing,” the stewardess said, “but you can put it on the floor if it will fit under the seat ahead of you.”
She folded the excess bag over the box and it neatly fit in the prescribed spot. After take0ff and before landing, she held the box on her lap again, cradling it protectively.
When the plane landed, she retrieved her checked suitcase. She wheeled the suitcase and carried the bag to a City Cab which drove her to the house.
She found the key under the mat where it always was and went inside. Leaving the suitcase in the kitchen, she carefully removed the box from the bag and headed outside.
The rocky shoreline was just how she remembered it. She found a place to sit and opened the box.
As the wind lifted ashes from the open box, she whispered, “I brought you home, Mom.”
This is my submission for the Unicorn Challenge. The challenge is simple if you’re a person of few words. Write no more than 250 words using the photo as a prompt. I could easily have used at least 100 more this time.
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
Oh my, the ending caught me unawares and sent me back to the beginning again. A touching tale indeed.
How beautiful, Sally.
I suspected that was what was in the box from the careful attitude she had to it.
You tell the tale so matter-of-factly and the loving emotion is so more powerfully for that.
Gah! And now I need a kleenex! You hi me square in the feels with this one! ❤ ❤ ❤
This is written so beautifully!! I suspected she had ashes . . .
Oh this is such a moving story 🥹
It doesn’t matter what we suspected, Sally …. this is a heartfelt, glorious write without a single wasted word. Absolutely wonderful! Brava!
Sweet and touching tale, Sally
Actually she whispered, “Good bye evidence of my revenge against the creepy man who locked my family in his dungeon and murdered them one by one.”
I just didn’t have enough words for that so I changed it to something that would fit.
Laughing here.
I like that much better!
Now that definitely made me laugh too!
What a touching tale, Sally! 💞💞💞