One Last Time

by S.A. Rose
(Canada)

I can smell the wood. Those remarkable pine trees that separate us from the rest of the world, the ones that hide my bitter torment, masquerade my lies in a bevy of beauty.

Every night I look at the stars. They shine with a brilliance I know I can never have. It's been too long since I felt their warmth. When the clouds cover the milky light of the moon, and my fingers are frozen through, even though I know deep in my soul that I will never see these beautiful stars again, I beg for his merciful forgiveness.

He opens the door to let me in, that tolerant smile plastered onto his deceptively handsome face, and for a moment...just a moment...I forget the monster that lives inside him and I breathe in his light. And then it's gone, ripped horribly from my wretched, broken hands. I know I will pay. I know that I will pay for his heartache, his pain. I know it, and a single tear burns down my cheek.

His thumb reaches up and wipes it away, gripping my chin tight. And right before I kiss the world goodbye, he whispers one last time "You know I love you, right?"