Lily's Last Breath, A Marriage's End

nt, then she let out a short, shar

if I were a particularly stupid child. "It's not fun

g," I said, m

I was happy for David. You can't stand it when I have anything for my

wo just going to let him say these th

, his face like ston

ha

ed, his voice leaving

ncertainty finally entering her expression. Sh

ery. But don't come crawling back to me when you get tired of this littl

was silent again. I raised a hand to my mouth, rubbing my lips furiously, trying

old me I was different from the loud, arrogant boys she usually dated. She said she liked my quiet strength. I was a charity case,

ange. The marriage was her parents' idea, a way to formalize our relationship and, I now realized, a

e not as a commitment to me, but as a cage bu

en. Then David came back into the picture. Her high school sweetheart, the one

post pictures of them online, smiling, their heads close together. The whole town

ning. At first, I tried to fight it. We had scre

same mocking smile. "David is just a friend.

wn sanity. The arguments left me exhausted and empty. So, I stopped. I ga

She was my reason for enduring the hollow shell of my marriage. She was my sun, my moon, my entire sky. I could tolera

ell, running into my

s all I

e with the force of a physical blow. The only thing that had made

r of my child, had put the final nail in

elt over. There was nothing left to