Embroidered Poppies

a short story

Published in The Mays XXVII

Thomas Francis and Esther Hope were gifted an embroidered tablecloth on their wedding day. It goes with them through their married life, through house moves and new jobs and births and tragedies.

“It works its way from an innocent beginning to a conclusion that is both a surprise and clincher. The reader is seduced by its sweetness, and then punched in the face.”

Louis de Bernieres, Guest Editor of The Mays XXVII

The Mays Anthology is published by Varsity Publications and is available from: