Love Doesn't Always Last

Love Doesn't Always Last is a piece that I wrote in my creative writing class.  My teacher gave us two lines that we had to use in our story but we had to make up the plot and everything else in between.  This story shows the last few moments a wife is spending with her husband before he leaves her.

Love Doesn't Always Last

The two stood face to face looking at each other wondering how things got to where they were today.  Sarah looked at her husbands face and wondered how you love someone so much but not have the feeling be mutual.  She knew his face better than anyone.  The perfect round eyes, making him look even more magical than he already was.  His tall lean build toned from hours of exercise towered over her.  She wanted to grab his hand, feel that he was still the same man that she loved, but she knew that not what he wanted. 

            His face was so full of anger and desperation as he watched her watch him.  Sarah knew there was no going back to the way things used to be, but instead of ruining the last few moments she had with the man she loved, she stayed silent, just soaking up the presence of him. 

            “Is this better,” she thought to herself, “Pretend like everything is okay between us, just to keep him with me?  Or let him go and know that nothing will ever be the same?”

            Sarah felt her eyes fill with tears and took a calming breath, trying to stop the fire that was building behind her chest.  Looking at his face only reminded her of the happy memories that she once had with him.  It reminded her of the cozy home they shared together, and the life they had intertwined with each other.  She remembered the vows they had spoken to each other on the night of their wedding, the words she had taken so seriously then and still did.

            “For better or for worse,” echoed in her skull, making the tears that had long since disappeared fall from her eyes down onto her cheeks.

            “How can this be the end,” she thought to herself, “After everything that has happened? Everything we’ve been through?”

            Sarah took a step closer to her husband and interlocked their fingers together.  She waited for the look she was sure was going to come across his face.  First came the eyebrows, she watched as they pulled together.  Then came the eyes, she saw as his eyes closed, shutting her out completely.  Then came his mouth.  His perfect lips, she had come to love, they turned downward showing his dislike towards her.

            She held onto him for only a few more seconds, putting him and herself through as much pain as she could muster.  Sarah stood on her toes and kissed him on his cheek.

            “Good-bye,” she whispered to him.  Trying to feel and smell as much of him as she could in that moment.

            Stepping down, Sarah watched as her husband bent down to pick up his bag, stand up, nod at her, and turn around and leave.  Sarah could feel herself crippling from the inside out.  She watched as he left, hoping he would turn around and change his mind.  But he didn’t.  It was only Sarah who stood there, and then there was one.