“Delay is the deadliest form of denial.”
— C. Northcote Parkinson

When she came back, I cried.

When she came back, I died.

When she came back, I tried.

When she came back, I lied.

I cried because she had been gone so long.

I died of pure joy, seeing her face so strong.

I tried to get her to sing, again, our song.

I lied because I knew it was all wrong.

She reached for my face.

She whispered nothing sweet.

She said, “My dear Grace,

“Don’t forget the sheet.”

They didn’t hear this.

They avoided my gaze.

They didn’t see the kiss.

They left me in a haze.

When she went away, forever and good, I lied.

When she went away, my sweet Hope, I tried.

When she went away, my one love, I died.

When she went away, covered in cloth, I cried.

 

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Listen, I can’t write happy things. Y’all’re just gonna have to accept that. XD

The prompt came from Yeah Write, which is doing a year-long short story challenge for 2016! This is Week 47/48’s prompt. You can read all about the challenge HERE!

“rainy evening and reflections on pavement” by glasseyes view is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.