She strolled down the sidewalk, bumping into the fence a time or two. Tiny sparks flickered before her eyes. She breathed deeply. “I’m a strong woman.”
The lighthouse seemed much smaller; the cliff, not as steep as twenty-one years ago when he proposed. He’d pointed to the stars, explained the galaxies, daunted over the moon and then dropped to one knee. She said yes.
The two were destined for happiness.
“One day, I’ll be up there.” He spoke from the heart, but she never believed it would happen, until it did.
He’d missed their anniversary, their daughter’s sixteenth birthday, and Christmas. Now with the promise of his return from orbit, she cringed at the thought of his touch. Two hundred and ninety days trapped, and alone with another woman in Outer-Space. She was no fool.
The water jumped from the sea as the capsule made its landing, bobbing through the mighty waves, boats swarmed Hitlon’s chosen Spacecraft, Arson-X.
She sat crying on a park bench where the two had shared many kisses. She reread the divorce papers she intended to present to her husband upon reunification.
She sighed, recalling the birth of their child – the first of many memories that would soften her heart. She tore the documents into a million pieces, tossed them and watched as they flurried over the water.
Together again, in their own home, the couple held one another tightly. “Finally, I’ll be able to sleep.” He said. “What were those white particles that fell from the sky?” His forehead wrinkled.
“Confetti, so you’d know I was there.” She laid her head on his bare chest.
Some secrets are best kept.
Leesa Writes 