Gone
Her quiet hitches of breath could still be heard from across the room, where a boy was stood peeking in through the doorway, pausing in his intense game of hide and seek.
The woman didn't look up as she let another pained sob wrack her small frame, choking out from between her lips. Her flaxen hair hung limp and dull, obscuring her face, as her head slowly began to move from side to side.
"No," escaped from her quivering mouth and she sucked in a long, shuddering breath. "W-wh... why, he... no."
There was a rustling sound as her hands started to shake, crumpling the piece of paper that she held in them. Her eyes scanned over the page restlessly. Tears had forced the ink to run and blur; some of the words were now illegible, but it didn't matter. By now she had it committed to memory.
Irritated by the ruined state of the letter, she cast it aside, not caring as it drifted to the floor on the far side of the room. Digging frantically in her pocket, she retrieved her phone, fingers fumbling and hitting all the wrong buttons because her tears were impairing her vision.
When she finally sobered up enough to hit all the right buttons in the correct sequence, she lifted the phone up to her ear and squeezed her eyes shut as she waited.
The ringing stopped.
"Hey," the familiar voice greeted, and she let out another quiet sob. "I can't pick up the phone at the moment, so if you leave a message I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can."
She heard laughter and quiet talking in the background before the voices cut off and were followed by a long beep.
An anguished wail tore from her throat. "Why?" she screeched. "How could you do this to me? You think we'll have a better life this way, me and your son - your son, who is now fatherless?"
Letting out another cry of frustration, she stalked over to the fallen sheet of paper, bending down and gripping it in her fist. "Why won't you just pick up the phone? Oh yeah, it's because you're dead, you're dead to me, and to your son! You say you want me to tell him about you?" She waved the paper in the air. "Oh, I'll tell him about you," she laughed manically, "tell him about what a filthy whore his father was, leaving "
She was cut off by another high-pitched beep. Growling, she redialled the number.
"Hey, I can't "
"Shut the hell up." she muttered to herself, tearing the phone away from her ear.
When she heard the faint beep she lifted the phone back up to continue with her rant.
"Where was I?" she pondered, though it was mostly for effect, "Right, you being a lying, cheating slut." Pressing her fist against her forehead, she tried to calm herself down. "Just... why?" she whispered through her tears. "What did I do so wrong that you had to turn to... somebody else?"
As thoughts of her husband (ex-husband now, her mind helpfully amended for her) and his lover flitted through her mind, she became angry again, disgusted.
"Somebody I knew," she continued, a hard edge to her tone, "one of our friends." She scoffed. "Some friend! I bet the two of you were laughing at me the whole time you were working up the guts to run away together, smiling and joking with me when I was around and then fucking each other and mocking me whenever I turned my back. What a horrible, disgusting thing you are."
She heard the beep for a third time, and this time she knew she wasn't going to call him back. Whimpering in self pity, she tucked the phone back into her pocket. She sunk to her knees where she was, then crawled back over to her corner, curling up with the letter still clutched in her fist. She released it and smoothed out the creases before picking it up again. Her breath hitched. She continued to sob quietly to herself, her view of the rest of the room blocked by the fringe hanging down in front of her face.
Though her sobbing was quiet, it was not missed by her young son, who was still standing in the doorway watching. Upset and confused by his mother's distress, the boy set off to return to his search through the house, to see if he could finally find out where his father was hiding. Hide and seek could be really frustrating sometimes, especially when you couldn't find where your opponent was hiding no matter how diligently you sought.
The woman didn't look up as she let another pained sob wrack her small frame, choking out from between her lips. Her flaxen hair hung limp and dull, obscuring her face, as her head slowly began to move from side to side.
"No," escaped from her quivering mouth and she sucked in a long, shuddering breath. "W-wh... why, he... no."
There was a rustling sound as her hands started to shake, crumpling the piece of paper that she held in them. Her eyes scanned over the page restlessly. Tears had forced the ink to run and blur; some of the words were now illegible, but it didn't matter. By now she had it committed to memory.
Irritated by the ruined state of the letter, she cast it aside, not caring as it drifted to the floor on the far side of the room. Digging frantically in her pocket, she retrieved her phone, fingers fumbling and hitting all the wrong buttons because her tears were impairing her vision.
When she finally sobered up enough to hit all the right buttons in the correct sequence, she lifted the phone up to her ear and squeezed her eyes shut as she waited.
The ringing stopped.
"Hey," the familiar voice greeted, and she let out another quiet sob. "I can't pick up the phone at the moment, so if you leave a message I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can."
She heard laughter and quiet talking in the background before the voices cut off and were followed by a long beep.
An anguished wail tore from her throat. "Why?" she screeched. "How could you do this to me? You think we'll have a better life this way, me and your son - your son, who is now fatherless?"
Letting out another cry of frustration, she stalked over to the fallen sheet of paper, bending down and gripping it in her fist. "Why won't you just pick up the phone? Oh yeah, it's because you're dead, you're dead to me, and to your son! You say you want me to tell him about you?" She waved the paper in the air. "Oh, I'll tell him about you," she laughed manically, "tell him about what a filthy whore his father was, leaving "
She was cut off by another high-pitched beep. Growling, she redialled the number.
"Hey, I can't "
"Shut the hell up." she muttered to herself, tearing the phone away from her ear.
When she heard the faint beep she lifted the phone back up to continue with her rant.
"Where was I?" she pondered, though it was mostly for effect, "Right, you being a lying, cheating slut." Pressing her fist against her forehead, she tried to calm herself down. "Just... why?" she whispered through her tears. "What did I do so wrong that you had to turn to... somebody else?"
As thoughts of her husband (ex-husband now, her mind helpfully amended for her) and his lover flitted through her mind, she became angry again, disgusted.
"Somebody I knew," she continued, a hard edge to her tone, "one of our friends." She scoffed. "Some friend! I bet the two of you were laughing at me the whole time you were working up the guts to run away together, smiling and joking with me when I was around and then fucking each other and mocking me whenever I turned my back. What a horrible, disgusting thing you are."
She heard the beep for a third time, and this time she knew she wasn't going to call him back. Whimpering in self pity, she tucked the phone back into her pocket. She sunk to her knees where she was, then crawled back over to her corner, curling up with the letter still clutched in her fist. She released it and smoothed out the creases before picking it up again. Her breath hitched. She continued to sob quietly to herself, her view of the rest of the room blocked by the fringe hanging down in front of her face.
Though her sobbing was quiet, it was not missed by her young son, who was still standing in the doorway watching. Upset and confused by his mother's distress, the boy set off to return to his search through the house, to see if he could finally find out where his father was hiding. Hide and seek could be really frustrating sometimes, especially when you couldn't find where your opponent was hiding no matter how diligently you sought.