From Sapphire Bones, The Short Story

He followed me outside the house onto the trail.  I ran as fast as I could, leaving him huffing and puffing until I reached the train tunnel.  I couldn’t believe what I had seen.  Janice, our accountant, was sprawled on our couch with her eyes closed and a bottle of Merlot in her hand.  Two glasses dangled from her purse along with red heels, a matching teddy and an opened jewelry box.  Her neck shined with a small gold necklace.  But that didn’t surprise me.  It was the diamond ring that hung from the necklace that stopped me in my tracks.  I looked at my wrist.  “It’s been years since I received a Christmas present from him and she gets jewelry.  Damn!”  I kicked the wall.  We’d been together for over ten years.  We moved to Omaha eight years ago.  I started with my job at the firm, he continued to travel back and forth to California as a director.  I loved the scenery and the running trails.  I ran for fun, but mostly to relax.  Most trails ran through an underpass such as this one, but this particular tunnel was always littered with spray paint and trash.  I hated the way the tunnel was taken care of.  No matter how many times the walls were stripped of paint or debris, the next week it would be back.  Brighter and larger than ever.  But tonight the graffiti welcomed me.  My anger.  My pain and despair.  “Come on Anne.  It’s not what you think.”

Hope you enjoyed this snippet. Listen to the season premier episode of Sapphire Bones on The Adult Bedtime Stories for the Creative Soul Podcast.