A Story

A STORY

 

I never swore to protect her

Such a thing was too much hassle

Back then the world was too vast

That nothing could save her or I.

 

‘’I’m sorry’’

She always said her goodbyes

Smiling apologetically.

While I who was always by your side

Pretended not to see your despair.

 

Instead I held on selfishly,

Until…

 

‘’it’s a story, silly”

She laughed, the last day of summer.

A story. She promised me

When I first saw her scars.

Back when the monsoon rain

Ate the sky,

The fifteen year old me was overwhelmed

So I turned away from your pain

 

The story she gave me with

A smile that didn’t reach her eyes

A cheerfulness that didn’t fit.

 

I should have known…

 

‘’did you hear?’’

‘’Its all over the news.’’

‘’She always seemed so nice.’’

‘’Don’t they say to look out for the quiet ones?’’

 

I look across the class

To the desk that would always be empty from now.

I should have known…

 

 I recall a summer afternoon

Where we stayed together

Silently healing our scars.

She looked so beautiful

It made me want to cry.

 

If I had kissed her then

Perhaps it would be her

And not her confession

That would be with me today.

 

A four page story

A fiction

Because people are afraid

Of the monsters moving within themselves.

 

She was always so beautiful

If only I had protected her then…

As the monsoon rain fall once more

I walk off the edge of this world

To meet her again.