Fiction Prompt: Hero
"I cannot touch you anymore.
I can't. Even when I try." Those lines run on a loop through my mind.
I sigh. I turn over but the pillows just seem so ... hard and thin. Why didn't I notice they were getting old?
Because it was so good. Who cared about pillows?
I throw my blanket back with a sigh, though my legs out of the bed. My veins mock me. Is that why you left? I know they are not pretty.
I know there will be nothing but I still run to check my email. 20 new messages! I hold my breath but, of course not. I look at the phone but the voice mail light isn't blinking.
In the car, I gobble a bagel. The crumbs scatter onto my black shirt. "Shoot, I'm a slob, I ..." and somehow through the fog you left in my mind, I hear the radio say, "...shared your dreams, shared your bed, I know you well, I know your spell, I've been addicted to you." Suddenly the tears fall, quiet, cascading gushes. I didn't know I had so much in me, so much water. The tears mix with the crumbs as I pull over by the road.
I'm going to be late but I don't care anymore. I need this moment to, once again, say goodbye.
"Who needed him, Misty? Just another guy. They all do a woman wrong eventually!" Karen laughs and I try to laugh too before I take another sip of Coke. Diet Coke. I don't care how I look anymore but ... gosh, I have to try. Why do I have to try? Why do I have to pretend to laugh? Why can't I bash you with her, join in the fun, drive the metaphorical stake into your heart and move on?
Because you were my hero. You still are after all.
Maybe I could heal if I hated you but ... as much as I want to twist the past, to assign cruel motives to your words, to insist that you forced me and took and left ... I know the pain is my own.
You're still the decent guy you were before. You still conduct your life as the hero I admired.
The mess was my fault.
And in my head, the song plays on:
"And as you move on, remember me, Remember us and all we used to be ...."
*Note: All lyrics from the song sung by James Blunt, embedded below, which inspired this entry*
I can't. Even when I try." Those lines run on a loop through my mind.
I sigh. I turn over but the pillows just seem so ... hard and thin. Why didn't I notice they were getting old?
Because it was so good. Who cared about pillows?
I throw my blanket back with a sigh, though my legs out of the bed. My veins mock me. Is that why you left? I know they are not pretty.
I know there will be nothing but I still run to check my email. 20 new messages! I hold my breath but, of course not. I look at the phone but the voice mail light isn't blinking.
In the car, I gobble a bagel. The crumbs scatter onto my black shirt. "Shoot, I'm a slob, I ..." and somehow through the fog you left in my mind, I hear the radio say, "...shared your dreams, shared your bed, I know you well, I know your spell, I've been addicted to you." Suddenly the tears fall, quiet, cascading gushes. I didn't know I had so much in me, so much water. The tears mix with the crumbs as I pull over by the road.
I'm going to be late but I don't care anymore. I need this moment to, once again, say goodbye.
"Who needed him, Misty? Just another guy. They all do a woman wrong eventually!" Karen laughs and I try to laugh too before I take another sip of Coke. Diet Coke. I don't care how I look anymore but ... gosh, I have to try. Why do I have to try? Why do I have to pretend to laugh? Why can't I bash you with her, join in the fun, drive the metaphorical stake into your heart and move on?
Because you were my hero. You still are after all.
Maybe I could heal if I hated you but ... as much as I want to twist the past, to assign cruel motives to your words, to insist that you forced me and took and left ... I know the pain is my own.
You're still the decent guy you were before. You still conduct your life as the hero I admired.
The mess was my fault.
And in my head, the song plays on:
"And as you move on, remember me, Remember us and all we used to be ...."
*Note: All lyrics from the song sung by James Blunt, embedded below, which inspired this entry*
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