Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You

He can forget her easily in the daylight, but when he's alone and the sun's gone, he sees her wet cheeks and mascara tears. He hears her voice crack through the weeping and shouting all over again. If by some sick trick, the memory becomes clearer with every rerun in his mind. On the nights it is especially difficult to close his eyes, he reaches for the phone. Through his swollen eyes, he searches for her name. His thumb hovers over the screen, over her name, but never presses down. He lets the device slip through his fingers onto the floor and curses himself until the mental abuse has become exhausting enough to lull him into a shallow sleep.

In the daylight, he likes to convince himself that he's changed. But when the sun's gone, he's the same boy he's always been.

Her eyes fall whenever she looks into a mirror. She is forever searching for the fatal flaw that drives everyone away. Tears well up into her eyes, but never spill over, as she stares into the bathroom mirror. She can list all of her flaws frontward and backward on cue, but at the end of the list, she knows she is missing her biggest flaw of all. All she wants is to know the thing about her that makes everyone leave.

She thinks maybe if she knew what it was, it would make her want to leave too.