Kristine E. Brickey

BOOKS & BREWS TODAY @STEELE STREET BREWERY Ionia 2-4PM  Prompt #3: Leaving If he promised it would never happen again, she would stay. If he quit drinking. If he stopped lying.  If she promised never to tell anyone. If she ignored the red flags. If she believed the lies. She packed up the children, loaded the car, called the dog from the yard, and drove away, leaving him and his broken promises behind. 

When people ask how I am, It’s FINE, is usually my response. My friends know that is code, for the opposite. The dark circles beneath my eyes, proof of sleepless nights and other nightmares. Cantaloupe was our panic word, the come and save me word, for visitation times and funeral day. If we’d been honest, there would have been an overflowing bowl of orange, fruity sweetness, but none of us used it, not even once.  We lie, we fight, we answer, “It’s FINE.” But inside, our hearts are splintering, searching for solace, spinning out of control.  A fellow writer predicted my pinnacle has yet to come, that something more must come from my pain. Right now, my broken heart feels simply broken.  Only the future knows, but for now, It’s fine.