Married to myself

, the world blurred into a smear of greens and browns, mirroring the uncertainty churning within me. Dad had bought the buns, his way of saying "I'm sorry," though he

se that echoed hollowly in the vast emptiness of the years that followed. Mom, round with my youngest sibling, had smiled weakly, her eyes mirroring the

officer's eyes, sharp and assessing, lingered on me for too long. I felt a blush creep up my neck. A man traveling with a teenage girl... I knew what they were

Mom, her face a hazy collage of smiles and tears, flickered behind my eyelids. I w

ontrast to the quiet familiarity of my village. Dad paid the driver, the clink of

icting emotions washed over me. Relief that I had finally arrived, apprehension about wha

ng with the ghosts of laughter and chatter I imagined filled it during the day. I wandered through t

ning. I didn't know what the future held, but one thing was certain: my life was about to change forever. And as I drifted to