Iceberg

He couldn't understand why she suddenly turned cold. She looked at him but he doubted she really saw him. He tried to talk to her, ask about her day, and even suggested one of the menus they had always enjoyed for that night's dinner. But she remained still, unnerved, unspeaking.

So he went down to the kitchen and called for pizza. He opened the television and flicked through news channels. He sat on the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table. Still, no sound from upstairs.

He wished, for the millionth time, that he knew what was happening. Something was breaking inside his own house and he had no idea what was it. But like always, he gave her space. He knew she had trouble breathing, literally and figuratively, and having him around could only make it worse for her.

Thirty minutes, said the pizza boy when he called. He wished it was sooner, then he could call on her again. Every minute took forever to come.

Barely ten minutes had passed when he heard a blood-curdling scream. He dashed to their bedroom, bruising his knee and cutting his palm on the way.

At the door, he saw her standing. Her hand was on the knob, as if on her way to close the door behind her. Then she looked up at him and smiled.

The iceberg had melted. Or maybe, it was just its tip.

Photo by: Runolfur Hauksson

Alone

He left before she even had a chance to say goodbye. Ten days after, he wrote to her. He said he couldn't stand to see her cry. He said he would come back. He said he would, for her.

Years passed and not another letter came. She ran out of reasons. She ran out of explanations. She even ran out of the patience to wait. Somehow, she had lost hope that he would still come back. People came and went, if you ask her. Her mother did the same. Her father did neither. She had been alone most of her life, with the few people who were around her leaving one by one. Soon, she learned to accept solitude as her only long-term partner.

But when she heard that he's back, she couldn't help but be happy. There was more than excitement in her heart as she raced through the street. Even after everything, even after she said she's through, she was still hoping. She never realized that, but there she was, running as if her life depended on it.

Until she reached the place where they had most of the memories in. He was not there. She waited. Yet again, she did.

Night fell and no one came. The sun had set so suddenly she didn't even notice high noon happened already.

She should have known she'd been right about being alone.

Photo by: Kevin Aryoueyezee