My Love Wasn't Enough (v2)
Edited version - Sapphic Flash Fiction
This four bedroom house for two is filled with empty promises. Years of trying to make things work. Dreams disappearing into the silence and the shuffling of your own feet.
You take your time up the stairs, sliding your hand on the railing. You pause in the hallway and stare out the bay window. The neighborhood is vibrant in hues of green but behind closed doors, your world is being stripped of its color.
You question how much longer you can hold on and the aching in your chest reminds you to grip onto what is left. But every time you touch her, your fingers slip right through her. You convince yourself that maybe if you love her harder, she will resent you less.
You take in a deep breath before confronting the truth. You knock on the bedroom door with your knuckles, and it quietly creaks as you step inside. This room doesn’t feel like yours anymore.
The love of your life lies on the bed, in the fetal position. She hasn’t spoken a word to you all day. The home has felt eerie and stale. You’re not quite sure if you belong here anymore. It’s the end and you know it. As you step closer towards the bed, you gulp down the dryness in your throat, preparing to speak.
“Is everything okay?” you ask, despite knowing it’s not.
She doesn’t face you, let alone acknowledge you. So, you sit on the edge of the bed and a sadness spreads throughout your body. Your eyes prick with tears. They threaten to fall. You tilt your head back, trying not to cry. Clearing your throat, you reach back to touch her. She inches away from you when your fingertips touch the comforter that hugs her body. Wishing it was you wrapped around her.
“I think we’re broken,” her voice quivers as she buries her head into the pillow. “I can’t do this anymore.”
Your lips go numb as the blood drains from your face and into your toes. Every inch of you wants to crawl underneath the blankets. Your skin cries to be touched by her loving hands. But the love isn’t present in the room. It has been sucked out and you don’t know how to bring it back. Deep down, you know she is right. Things have not been okay for quite some time. You just didn’t want to accept it as fact. You wanted to hide it in the back of your mind. Hoping to convince yourself that love was enough to hold you both together. But it’s not.
So, you sit at the edge of the bed. Inches away from the woman you love. So close, yet miles away from her heart. You don’t know what to say because she is right. You don’t want her to be right. The urge you have to beg on your knees to change her mind leaves a pit in your stomach. You silently try to regulate your breathing, but there is no such thing as normal when your world is falling apart.
Heartbreaking