LX | Captured

❦

When I reach my house,

I hear
the usual shouting
from inside

and make a decision.

I'm not gonna do anything about it.

Throw my socks in a corner.
Shoes on the rack.
School bag beside bedroom door.

Slam the door shut.

I lie flat
on my bed.

The room

is engulfed in darkness.

Darkness will muffle the noise.
Light will only make it clearer.

'By doing nothing,'
I say to myself,
'I don't have to break up with her.'

She'll just leave on her own.

I don't mind
breaking up with her,

it's just gonna be
a pain.

I remember what Jerry told me.

He guessed right
after all,

that I'll regret this.

I do.

What was I trying to do?

Seduce her?
Change her?
Get revenge?

It's not my fault.
I haven't even done anything.

She's the one,

who decided everything on her own.

The bossy bitch.

It's not my fault.

There's a break
in the screaming.

Objects
are slammed

against
table surfaces.

Water trickles down
the water pipes.

The neighbour is singing
in the shower.

There are no stars
in the sky.

The orange streaks of sunlight are gone.

I close my eyes.

Sleep.

My phone vibrates.

A message from Shuhui.

Dread fills me
from my head to my toes.

I remember
the pleasure,

the cafe at the basement
in the middle of nowhere.

Cigarette smoke
—a ladder to heaven.

The empty freedom.

I compare it
to the shining coal-fire

burning
in Rowan's eyes.

What an idiot.

[Read the full story at novelconbini.com!]