Romance

Crossings In The Barren Years

by Nora Blythe

On the high platform, Garrett Logan suddenly unclipped the safety harness at my back.Before I could even react, he shoved me off.I slammed hard onto the crash pad below, pain ripping through my entire body.By the time the staff pulled me back up, his childhood friend, Sienna Yates, was doubled over with laughter, holding up her phone.On her screen, the clip of me falling kept replaying on a loop.“Garrett, did you see her face just now?”The moment Sienna laughed, Garrett visibly relaxed.Sienna was autistic, and for some reason, nothing made her laugh like watching me humiliate myself.So during the ten years I dated Garrett, scenes like this happened over and over again.When I lost my job, Garrett hung up a banner and celebrated with her.When I was hospitalized after a car accident, he stood outside my room with her and watched me like I was entertainment.Every year on her birthday, he made me dress up like a clown just to make her smile.He knew perfectly well that without a safety harness, I could have died.But if it meant making Sienna happy, Garrett would push me without a second thought.Blood ran from the gash on my forehead, blurring my vision.As I kept wiping it away, one thought rose with startling clarity:Maybe I was finally done holding on to a ten-year mistake.

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