Sitting with legs tangled on her blanket Josie sighed, looking out the window she saw the moon was already out, how time flies she thought, it was just a few minutes ago she came in, or was it hours already? she questioned, looking up at the ceiling she shook her head in exhaustion, despising herself for letting those moments weigh her down.
Oh, those moments she thought, if only, if only she had just... Oh no! She screamed out loud, staring back at the moon again she felt hot liquid sleet down her cheek.
She sniffed bitterly, " I can't seem to even keep a promise made to myself " she chuckled mockingly," I can't seem to get things right anymore... Just how did I get here?" she asked no one in particular.
Though the room was full of silence her mind answered her question so loudly she held onto her ears just to shut it all out.
Throwing off the pillow beside her to the far end corner she stared at the moon again. Fairytale brought her here she reminded herself.
She had believed the stories told to her about the knights in shining armor saving the damsel in distress, how the knight charged in and slain the dragon or witch holding the damsel at bay, she had imagined how the knight's blade slashed the fiery dragon in half just to save the damsel and then begin the sprout of love between the pairs.
She could still remember how her grandma always chuckle and kiss her cheeks at her love fantasies.
Those fantasies had brought her into a relationship with Jake four (4) years ago.
They had met at the club when Jake had saved her from the clutch of her drunk fellow at the bar that night. He carried her with his soft yet hard hands and whispered to her hearing, " are you hurt miss?" His husky voice had asked and she had shaken her head thanking him for rescuing her and just when she looked up, she found the most heartwarming sea blue eyes ever staring back at her with so much care. That night had begun their journey as they exchanged contact and dinner happened which started their love life.
He had cared for her or so she thought and on April first, they had had their first kiss shared in the presence of the moon, he had held her closely, tasting her lips like a child savoring the candy Santa gave on Christmas day, and when he had finally kissed her, fireworks! It exploded all over and she felt herself melting into him wanting more.
She chuckled lightly, a bitter distant memory it was, beautiful was their relationship but it turned sour when she found he was married with a kid. And this revelation came in on their wedding day when the wife had objected to their union before the pastor even asked, "is there anyone against this union?"
She had expected it to be a lie, staring at Jake with a smile hitting him playfully on how the April fool this time around wasn't going to work on her as others had. She remembered how she had laughed uncontrollably cleaning the little tears that glisten in her eyes from ruining her makeup.
She laughed out bitterly in her little apartment holding her chest painfully as her mind drifted to the past again.
She raised her head and stare at the moon again just as she had done on her wedding day to stare at the woman who her soon-to-be husband had called to play the prank on her after all, her wedding day had been April first but the look of the boy beside the woman caught her, this had made her walk towards the woman, cleaning her eyes this time not minding her make up a bit just to be sure if her eyes were not playing a trick on her, but still, her eyes saw it, it was as if she was seeing Jake's little twin, right there she had turned to see Jake with his head down walking past her leaving her with the woman at the alter. She had tried calling his name but all that came out was a whisper. The woman had followed him, telling him she is filing for a divorce for his infidelity. He didn't answer, he just walked out with the woman on his trail leaving her alone.
She had woken up to the beep of machines surrounding her, she had fainted after the incident she was told, and had been asleep for days.
Weeks later, after her discharge from the hospital, she had seen a picture of the woman and Jake on social media.
No words came from him after the event and all that happened had made her question the universe if it were playing a game with her emotions. He didn't tell her anything, no explanations were made. Was she that unimportant to him she had asked?
And now after four years, four long melancholy years of living in the shadow of herself, she had found a package on her doorstep on April first it came from a stranger but when she opened the package, what she saw was no stranger to her, she could still remember how each letter looked. How can she ever forget how he writes, his signature, she cannot because he had sent her lots of it with flowers when they were dating.
Looking beside the bed where she had left the letter, she picked it up again to read his words.
Dear Josie, I am sorry for the pain I caused you, I wanted to tell you I was married and only came here for a business contract, but things just moved too fast and I couldn't stop myself from asking you to marry me. My wife and I settled and I am happy, hope you too will be someday, your knight in shining armor will find you and I will become a distant memory never to be remembered again, please, don't give up on fairy tales
She had read it a thousand times and had wanted to curse him and tell him his words doesn't matter. She had wanted to send him tons of letters telling him a million reasons she hate him but she just couldn't write, she couldn't just think of what to write.
She sighed holding her hair in exhaustion, she sighed, again and again, looking at the moon but this time around the moon glistened telling her to forgive him and live a happy life as she always had.
With a smile, she rose from her tattered state and cleaned off her tears, picking up her phone she dialed his number, and then she waited patiently as it rang.
Hello the husky voice ran out.
I forgive you she found herself saying, and then she hung up with a smile.
Sighing deeply she pick up her pillow and for the first time in Four years, she dreamt again, not about Jake but of the awaiting future. And to tell you, it was an incredible dream she had, a dream that began a step toward her future.
This is my response to the prompt on The Ink Well-exhaust.
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