And then—
the phone rings.
He’s gone.
Just like that.
No warning.
No goodbye.
She runs.
Barefoot.
Down the stairs.
Slips—
once,
twice,
but doesn’t stop.
Something in her already knew.
But hope... hope is cruel.
Tears?
No—
they were pearls,
spilling, crashing
from beneath her eyes.
Shaking.
Begging.
"Come back..."
Her voice was breaking—
cracking,
but she kept crying.
"It’s a lie!"
she screamed,
from the very center of her soul.
"Tell me it’s a lie!"
People came.
They held her.
Touched her shoulders.
Pulled her close.
But nothing—
no one—
could hold her together.
I was there.
She saw me.
She ran into me,
clutched me like a lifeline,
cried into my chest—
“Wake up...”
She said it over,
and over,
and over again.
I heard her.
I heard everything.
And God—
I wanted to.
Just one night.
Just one last night.
To hold her.
To kiss her forehead.
To tell her,
“It’s okay now. I’m here.”
But I wasn’t.
Not really.
Not anymore.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
I was trapped in silence,
while her world was shattering in sound.
The women came.
With blank faces
and cold hands.
They broke her bangles.
One by one.
She screamed again.
Like a wound that wouldn't close.
"Stop it!" she cried.
"He’s not gone!"
"He promised me!"
She bled.
Not from cuts—
but from somewhere deeper.
Somewhere no one could reach.
She kept calling me fake.
A liar.
Because I left.
Because I let go.
But I didn’t want to.
I tried.
I tried to get up.
To hold her.
Just once.
To say,
"Don’t be scared."
But I couldn’t.
Her tears hit my skin.
One after another.
I felt every one.
And I couldn’t even lift a finger
to wipe them away.
I wanted to stay.
Just a moment longer.
To see her face again.
To whisper,
"I'm still here."
But they wouldn’t let me.
They dragged me away.
Wrapped me in white.
Carried me like I wasn’t still screaming inside.
She didn’t want to let go.
I know that.
I felt it.
But they—
they made her.
They made me.
I’m sorry.
I’m so, so sorry.
I couldn’t speak.
But I looked at you.
And I know you understood.
You always could read my eyes.
You knew I was there.
Answering every broken question
with a silence full of love.
But then—
they shut the coffin.
And everything…
went dark.
©starshines
S