The minute the countdown hit zero, his eyes flew open. There were beads of sweat on his forehead as he sat up and took deep breaths.
Grace watched silently, her pen dangling between her index and middle fingers. She had expected some reaction but she didn’t think it would be this intense.
After what seemed like an eternity, he turned to face her. When he spoke, his voice shook slightly and the fear in his eyes was clearer than day.
“I saw him again. I’m not even asleep and I saw him clearly.”
Tonight is the 63rd night you’ve been gone.
I try not to keep track. I try to move on and do other things like drinking myself to stupor or cutting myself. Yet those pains are dull compared to the gaping wound you left in my heart.
The nights are the worst because you are always present when I close my eyes. Then I wake up and remember you’ve been gone for that long.
I thought to come after you once, to try to make things right and live out the remainder of our days how we planned we would.
Remember?
I checked the clock by the bedside, its light glowing, almost pulsating in the dark room – a reflection of my feelings before morning. It was 3:15. I couldn’t believe it’s just been 2 minutes since I last checked.
Instinctively, I reached my hand to the other side of the bed but it met nothing save the cold empty space beside me.
I miss her.
Nights like this are always the longest. Nights when I know that by sunrise I’ll see her again.
The days he left, I cried. Yes, actual tears fell.
Continue reading “Morning Sunrise (flash fiction)”