The following is a short story I wrote some months ago titled: "The Smile."
At the beginning, as with anything involving two people, there was love.
And as she hid at the other side of the bed, lying on the floor to be able to see him coming, she thought about that love, what it meant to them, all those years, and how it consumed them.
There had been times when love became something so overwhelmingly powerful, it blinded them, it exhausted them, it drained them of all energy, leaving them in pain. She would always find herself crying during those rare times, while he would find it difficult to move or talk.
They would spend that time of inertia, pondering why was a feeling so beautiful and powerful, causing them to suffer, however fleetingly and rare the moment, if it was meant to bring people together. If it was meant to make us change, to better us as people, to evolve into a more understanding and kind being.
He would say that perhaps, it was to makes them appreciate how lucky they were to be able to share such a feeling. She thought it a test, or perhaps a malfunction on the design of what love was suppose to be.
He would look at her in strange ways whenever she offered this explanation, before holding her hand and telling her that there was no malfunction; the fact that they loved each other so deeply was proof of that. And if it was a test? Then they were passing it every time, for it only made their love stronger.
What she didn’t say to him, what she kept to herself, was that she often thought those rare times when their love overwhelmed them into pain, she saw it as a sign that they were in fact not meant to love one another. Their union was wrong, and love was trying to tell them that by making them hurt; a sort of wake up call she had been slow to catch on.
He was approaching. His footsteps were loud; he wasn’t trying to surprise her, and why should he? He had her cornered, she wasn’t going anywhere. For the briefest of moments she felt like crying, but she willed herself to not give into her feelings, to the memory of that love they should have never give birth to. A love that was now, on these last minutes of their bond, ripping them apart.
His bare feet came into view as he stood by the doorway, knowing she was somewhere in the room, waiting. He seemed to be giving her an option to come out from hiding; it was over.
She prepared herself to get back on her feet and face him, but she knew it wouldn’t be so simple.
It hurt to look at him. She had lost herself to that face many years ago, and now she was looking to pull her spirit back out from those eyes, something he had refuse to let her do.
They didn’t exchange words, for there was nothing left to say. Their actions of the last few days have been enough and very specific as to each other’s position on their relationship. Love still overwhelmed them, still blinded them, still exhausted them, still drain them of all energy, but now, they weren’t left just in pain; they were broken as well.
She moved around and away from the bed, while their eyes said their goodbyes to each other.
In a catastrophic split second, where every happy memory was tainted forever by a dark, twisted feeling, and its damage irreparable, she raised her gun…but he fired his first.
He was trembling, and though inside he was crying and screaming in pain, he couldn’t bring himself to react. He dropped the gun and kneeled down.
They had been so happy together before ___________ destroyed it all. Their love so overwhelming, so powerful, to the point that it hurt to be away from each other’s company. It was that pain that brought __________ to corrode their bond.
She had become mad, paranoid; hurting herself first and then those around her. He had been slow to react; unwilling to have the woman he loved taken away from him. He feared he would never see her again and that would kill him. And now, his hesitation had force him to kill her himself.
He picked up the gun and pointed it to his right temple. But before he pulled the trigger, something clicked inside of him and he put the gun back down. For reasons unknown to him, for reasons he may never in his life understand, he looked at her dead body one more time and smiled.
