The grandfather clock had long since stopped, but now I missed it’s ticking.
On summer visits it had kept a stern watch over us, while we stuffed toasted cheese and biscuits into our mouths. I wondered now if it had simply been counting down towards the inevitable, a faithful minion to the God of time.
I turned my head slowly, letting my eyes fall on the pictures. As sure as her familial stories, the faces stared back; Dad at Bunesson, Muriel as a girl guide and the fallen film-star sister, beauty preserved before her marriage to alcohol.
I waited for a trembling finger to rise and the breathless stories to come. But only silence pervaded.
In her chair, the cushion sagged with an invisible weight.
For my great-aunt who passed away last month, aged 95.
Alex J Rankin 
beautiful, captures the memories that are left behind but also the emptiness.
Many thanks Julie, that’s what I was aiming for.
If only if. Knowing the past and the future.
I didn’t know you’d written this, makes up a bit for missing out.