Skip to main content

Lines and Rings

It felt heavy and thick on her hand. 

 It was odd, like a shoe a half size too big that still pinched a toe. She stared at it on her finger, remembering the first time she ever wore it...remembering when he had placed it on her hand. That moment seemed a whole lifetime ago - just barely a memory - even though only a few years had passed.

She felt the weight of it. Had it gotten heavier? She knew the answer was no, but somehow it felt ten times heavier and twice as thick as the last time she had the cold metal wrapped around her finger. She wanted it to feel comfortable, she wanted it to feel...good. She stared in the mirror, hoping that if she stared long long enough, her feelings would change.... 

Her gaze drifted to her own face. There were new lines. She rubbed at the canyon between her eyebrows - when did it become so deep? She didn't love it, or the lines on either side of her mouth, but she didn't care to be flawless either. She knew the lines on her face were earned, and she didn't mind growing older - she knew it was a privilege denied to many. She ran her fingers through her hair, exposing a few of the stark white hairs that had grown in over the past year. She had earned those too - holding all of the stress and anxiety of the world. In her last job, it was ulcers. This job, white hair. She wondered what part of her would break in the next job...

She lifted her hand again. She hadn't forgotten about the ring, she couldn't. It didn't feel like her own anymore. But she wore it, because that is what love does. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Selfish Day Realized

She did try to be selfish for a whole day, she truly did. But in all honesty, she only managed a few hours.  It was glorious, and did wonders for her soul. She thought she should try to do it more often, but wondered how she would peel herself away from the unending turmoil and day-to-day tasks of her life? What matters is, she was selfish for a few hours. And it was good for her soul. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Selfishness

She couldn't remember the last time she made a truly selfish decision. She honestly couldn't think of the last time she did something that benefited only her own self. Even the things she chose to do in her free time were done to help others or for the greater good of her family.  That thought weighed on her, like a heavy, wet spring snow on a tree already adorned with bright green leaves. She bent under the weight of it - not that it was a bad thing, but on top of everything else... She knew she couldn't bear the weight of everything. That, of course, was common sense. But lately, she had a hard time bearing the weight of even more than one thing at once. There is always a lot to be sad about in the world - so much. But all her life, she'd been able to stand it enough to keep tears from springing to her eyes at the thought of the tragedies, waiting until the right time to mourn and cry.  But it all weighed on her in such a way that she felt she couldn't...
Post a Comment
Read more

Inciting Incident 3

She sat next to him, calm, self-assured, and strong.  "It is as though we are on the same string, just at opposite ends," her voice soft and sensual without a hint of effort.  She gently slid her fingertips along his mandolin.  "I am knotted here,"    her fingertips tapping the edge of the bridge.  "But you are all the way over at the other end."  She slid her hand along the strings to the tuning pegs, lightly twisting one between two fingers before letting her hand fall back into her lap.  "When we are struck, we sing the same note, because we are connected. So whatever note is struck - love, caution, passion, fear - it reverberates back to each of us. I think we understand each other a lot more than we think we do." She took a deep breath before she continued.  "But the problem is, these two ends never meet." She tapped each end of the strings, then let her hand fall to rest on his knee.  "You have to brea...
Post a Comment
Read more