Moving On

“Hey, Alice,” I said, looking down at my coffee. I sighed.

“Hey, Sarah,” she said, sitting down and leaning forward on the table. “Wait; don’t tell me. You’re still thinking about him, aren’t you? Didn’t you say you were over him, like, yesterday? Said he was ‘a demon, a devil — a dog!’ I believe it was.”

“Yes… A sweet, adorable, loyal little puppy dog.” I said, sighing again.

“Loyal? While you’ve spent the last few months moping, I hear he’s already got a new girlfriend. Some blind gal. My friend Jessie, who works at the cafe up near his place, said she saw them together last week. ‘Totally adorable’ are the words she used. Adorable! Like it doesn’t even bother him that he’s left you a mess.”

“It’s not his fault, Alice. I just… I don’t handle things well. I know I should move on, if he has. It’s just… I’d like to see him. Them. I’d like to know that he’s really happy.”

“I don’t know, girl. Pretty sure that would just make you more miserable. ”

I pasted on a smile, looking at the time. “Not any more miserable than Mr. Arrietti is going to make us if we’re late. Let’s get going.”

***

It was still pretty early when we parted ways for the day. Arrietti acted rough, and we liked to joke that he was a bit of a taskmaster, but he was actually pretty generous with us. He even gave me a sympathetic look, before turning me out of his shop saying that I was “like a single storm cloud in a bright blue sky” and commanding me not to rain in his store. 

For a moment — just a moment — I wasn’t thinking about Ryan and his new girlfriend. Then I saw them. Her: beautiful, beaming. Him, holding her hand, guiding her across the street. He looked so happy. 

So happy, that he didn’t see the truck.

---

 

I don’t write short stories. It’s not my thing. I much prefer poetry as a medium. But, hey; I like trying things… Even if it is like black licorice. Inspired — however loosely — by this prompt:

“You see your lost dog on a leash, leading a blind person.”