February Flash Fiction - The Alright Girls
This flashfic is inspired by a prompt posted on 9th February 2022 by the Writer’s Digest to write about "something being regifted". This story is just over 500 words. Enjoy!
The velvet covered box made a soft shushing sound as I pushed it over the dresser, my fingers lingering on its gentle surface as I abandoned it there.
Beside me, her peaceful face pressed, delightful and serene, against the cream-coloured pillows, a statement of bliss and contented pleasure. Even despite everything we had gone through, the sight still stirred up my heart and reminded me that it wasn’t all broken after all.
I resisted the urge to push a stray lock of golden hair behind her ear, to reveal those long lashes teasing shadows over her cheeks, to brush against her skin again, to feel that love again.
If only we could forgive. If only we could move on.
One last night going through the motions, round after round of cat fights and hate sex and “I hate yous” and “I can’t believe I thought I loved you” and I leaving. And staring at her, feet glued to the floor, begging me to stay – maybe just another day, maybe just another week, another month, another year thrown away, wasted, gone – how long has it been this way? Has it been this way all along? When will I realise that it’s time – it’s time to let go. Just leave. Run away. Find something – anything – new.
But I love you. I do.
Your smile, your hair, your style – the way you laugh when I say a word wrong, adjust your hair when I tell you you’re beautiful, the way you look at me when I talk until three AM about my family and my troubles and that stupid TV show I keep watching over and over again, no matter how bad it was from episode one.
And I remember how I melted when you pulled out two jewellery boxes and handed me one.
You said, “Two halves of one whole.”
And the two of them glittering in the cold winter sunlight, their silver chiming as they rubbed together, dangling each from our lingering fingers as we tried to match their jagged lines together. The jeweller told you they were one hundred percent unique. No other piece could replace mine, could replace yours. At least, not as perfectly as it had before.
So, it would be wrong for me to take it.
Of all the things I’m leaving behind, the little, red box is almost as important as the girl I love. Maybe she will be whole when she fits them together. Maybe she will move on, forget me, find somebody more suited for that serine, beautiful face. Someone who doesn’t live by truces when they can have open borders and lavish bouquets.
The door handle shocked my fingers with cold as I pulled it shut behind me, one final slap for a cruel thing I’ve done. And when the lock clicked in place, I knew my final sin was over. There’s redemption on the road ahead, I tell myself as I start to walk. Salvation on the horizon. Cleansing on the icy pavement and frigid air.
There’s just a free woman now. A condemned soul. Everything’s going to be alright.
09/02/2022
To Be Proofread . . .