Love Ephemeral

Posted on August 02, 2024

Flash Fiction assignment: 6-500 words

Pain embracing, love enraptures you two, as shared lives ignites your souls. To understand, and to be understood, so effortlessly. A space free of shame and fear, the words so desperate to not be true are uttered. Together, your wounds are mended. Together, you admire your mirrored scars. Together, you heal.

As you become who you are, you drift. Shared pasts emerging as two futures. Hidden wounds are uncovered, this time not so easily understood. It's always been easy, now it isn't. Together, you work at the problem. Together, you put effort into being understood. Together, you try.

Time passes, as the determined march turns to the beleaguered trudge. One of you grows, the other struggles. The delicate threads of understanding are frayed. You don't understand. You feel misunderstood. You pull away.

When it ends, there is a flurry of emotions, but among them is not surprise. From the bonds of soulmates being ripped apart, a new wound to be mended, alone.

Time passes, as the daily slog becomes the optimistic future. You look back, not in sorrow, but in appreciation. For when comparing your scars, the life events making you who you are, you view the last one with fondness.