“I’ll love you forever.”

“Well, I think forever is a bit too long,” she said, peeling a patch of his greenish skin off his shoulder as they talked.

“But I can be with you forever,” he said.

She touched his face and then grimaced when more skin fell away at her touch, he was rotting right before her eyes.

“I don’t think you’re going to be here much longer, babe,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter what I look like, does it?”

“Well, not so much, but you need to be all in one piece.”

“I think I lost a piece.”… Read the rest

Her love was gone, but her life had to move on, there was no question in that.

She was young, she was beautiful, she had plenty of time left for things to change.

Maybe they would even change here, at this wedding she was invited to; maybe she’d dance with her future husband, and not even know it.

It was hard watching the other couples twirl and kiss when she had no one to touch, or no one to touch her.

Shouldn’t she celebrate the love she wants the most?

It’s hard when you don’t have nearly what you want.… Read the rest

After the battle, he was lucky make it into the medical tent, let alone get a bed.

He guessed that’s what happens when you lose three limbs in one day; you get special treatment.

With two legs and an arm gone, he wondered whether he would ever walk again.

Nurses and Medics raced between the beds, doing the best they could, but I know a lot of people died that day.

I was one of the lucky ones out in that field, being tended to under the big gray dome of the sky, knowing eventually I’d get to go home.… Read the rest

He curled around me and squeezed my heart, tightly circled, never letting go.

It was comfortable at first, it felt safe being that snugly held, and I didn’t think twice when the pressure got stronger, when the squeeze started feeling tighter than before.

It’s like they say, you can drop a frog in water and he won’t jump out when it starts to boil, because he gets used to the discomfort.

The pain becomes the one thing that is real, and certain.

I don’t struggle anymore, there’s no use.

He’s got me wrapped in him, and he’ll never let go.… Read the rest

“Why won’t you tell me about my father?”

“Because the truth is a burden. You’re lucky you don’t remember,” my grandmother says.

“I think I deserve to know where I come from. What if I have family? What if they can tell me important medical information?”

“All I know is you have two brothers and they’re much older than you.”

“Seriously?”

“Don’t ever tell your mother I told you this!”

“Well, what else?”

“Nothing else! If your mother or grandfather knew I was telling you all this they’d blow through the roof!”

“But it’s my life, my story!”

“A burden.”… Read the rest