Post by tarasummerville on Jul 26, 2014 8:28:52 GMT -5
They were married 60 years before her heart quit.
He didn’t cry while he held her hand by the hospital bed,
or the funeral.
He didn’t cry when he packed all her clothes (for the exception of a wedding dress) to donate.
He didn’t cry when he watched Jeopardy alone and ate a bag of Tostitos for dinner.
But there was that one day, where something in his brain snapped.
Reality, and time, and pragmaticism were washed away,
and what replaced these things was the instinct of a damaged human being.
Her absence became so overwhelming that he wanted to be her.
He put on the last article of clothing he had left of hers
her wedding dress.
He went to the place of their first date
now the abandoned movie theater.
Addicts and squatters lined the floor like a rotting human rug.
There were no movie posters, no theater seats, no ushers with long red flashlights
but he could smell the popcorn.
He traded his watch for a skuffed red pump that was large enough to fit his bare foot.
but as he looked down at his new footwear, tears began to form in his eyes
and he began to cry
mourning the foot without a shoe.
(Lisa's week 4 short story)
