“Not Today”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: Blanket.

I stare down at the blanket in my hand. The fabric is still soft, even after all those years of use, and it still carries his lingering scent.

The blanket pools from my fingers and cascades onto the floor. I can only stare at it as tears trickle down my cheeks.

I miss him. I can’t deny it anymore. I thought that burying myself in my work would somehow, magically erase the memories of him.

But work only made it worse. Everything I did reminded me of him. He used to drop me off in the morning and give me a kiss on the cheek. Sometimes, we would go out for lunch together at that little Italian sandwich shop on the first floor of my office building. Then, every day without fail, he would pick me up with that beautiful smile of his.

I can’t bear to go to work anymore. Last Monday, I stood for an hour in front of our Italian sandwich shop, just staring. Staring and remembering. For a moment, I even convinced myself that he was there with me, his arm around my waist, asking me what I wanted to eat. I think I even answered him, talking to thin air while the rest of the street stared at me.

I haven’t been back to the office since. Instead, I’ve spent my days alone, crying and curled up with his blanket.

But even his blanket doesn’t bring me comfort anymore. The fading of his scent is just another painful reminder that he’s gone. He’s gone and he’s never coming back.

I know that I should get rid of his stuff. His clothes, his tools, his video games.

His blanket.

He was quite clear that he was never going to come back here, not even to pick up his stuff. Still, there’s a part of me that hopes that he was lying, that he’ll come back and hug me and say that he made a mistake and that he still loves me.

But the logical part of me, the realistic part of me, knows that he’s gone. He’s always stayed true to his word, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

I know that it’s time to move on. But I can’t. Not yet.

I slowly bend down to pick up his blanket. I wrap it around my shoulders, just like he used to, just like I have been since he left.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to move on. But not today.

Final Comments: I tried moving away from using ‘I’ at the beginning of every sentence, but I’m still having some trouble with it. I’m now also kicking myself for not adding more emotional descriptions…

Overall Rating: 😢