Oh how I waited a long time! She finally came back! Her hands were as soft as flowers. Her face as bright as the moon. Her eyes glimmered like the stars up in the deep dark sky. I had to be nice to my lady, so I did everything for her. I put her in the car, buckled her in, and I gave her my bouquet. She giggled a high-pitched giggle. It brought a smile to my face. I had missed her pleasant laugh. We drove back to our little cottage. It wasn’t much, but it worked. I got out and opened her car door. I took her hand and pulled her out of the seat. Her other hand was still holding onto the bouquet. I swept her off her feet and we burst through the door. Dust went everywhere. Ever since she had sent me her letter, I had waited for her. Now she was here, in my arms. I went to our bedroom and put her softly on her bed. I kissed her and got in bed and put the blankets around us.

“Goodnight.” She said with her silvery voice.

“Goodnight my love,” I said.

The next morning, I got up early. The sun was just peeking over the horizon. I made some eggs and sausages. The eggs: nice and fluffy. The sausage: cooked to perfection. I went into our room and woke her up. She reluctantly got out of bed. I held her hand as we walked down the hallway into our dining room. As we entered the dining room, her eyes landed on the breakfast and her face lit up. She loved eggs and sausages. She devoured them as if she hadn’t eaten in months. When we finished breakfast, we sat down to watch our favorite show, The Operation Table. We’ve been watching it since season 1. We’ve been following the story and debating what’s going to happen next or if a character would die or not. It was something that we both loved. When the episodes were done, we decided to play a board game. We had lots of fun, we hated each other, but in the end, we had a good laugh. By the time we finished our last game, it was time to start preparing dinner. I grabbed the ingredients for spaghetti, one of her favorite meals. I heard talking and other noises coming from the living room. I assumed that it was the TV. I boiled the noodles, made the sauce, and chopped the meat. I mixed the meat and the sauce and poured the sauce on the noodles. Dinner was done. I invited her over to the table. She came over and sat down. She started to eat her spaghetti. We discussed what happened in today’s episodes and debated over what was going to happen to one of the characters. Finally, the day was done. We went to our room and lay in bed. I was glad she was back with me, after the lonesome year. The day had gone all too fast. But, alas, I said,

“Goodnight my love,”

The next day arrived. I had slept in, so she woke me up. She said good morning with no emotion. I got up out of bed, stretching and yawning. There was the smell of fresh-brewed coffee, along with steaming pancakes. I got myself a cup of coffee and 3 pancakes, which looked a little on the dark side, but I hoped their insides were still good. I sat down at our table alone. She wasn’t alongside me, she was off doing her own thing. I held on to the warm coffee cup with both hands and took a sip. The coffee tasted extremely diluted, to the point that it tasted like flavored water. I tried the pancakes. They were burnt and the outside was crunchy. I frowned. What happened? Did she do this on purpose? I noticed her from across the room, doing laundry. She was folding with more, Intensity… What happened to her? I walked over and touched her on the shoulder. She froze mid-fold. I asked if she was okay. She replied in a monotone voice, “Yes. Fine.” I knew she wasn’t fine, but I still walked away. This wasn’t like her. I sat back on the couch thinking. I wasn’t paying any attention to what was happening on the screen, I just continued to think. What changed? This wasn’t like her. Did she hate me? But just yesterday we were laughing together and having a good time. How could she love me one day and hate me the next? It didn’t make sense. Maybe she isn’t having a good day. Maybe the breakfast was just by accident. Yea, that must be it. I was concerned, still, but I tried to continue with my day. I looked at the clock and saw the time. It was almost time for The Operation Table. I looked behind me, she was still folding the laundry. I suggested that we watched our show together. She didn’t respond. She didn’t even turn around. This wasn’t like her. I thought. She ruined breakfast and now she doesn’t want to watch our favorite show? What’s going on? I asked once again if she is feeling well. “Yes, I am feeling fine!” She said raising her voice. She stopped for a couple of seconds. I thought she was going to apologize, say that she was just having a rough day, but she continued about her business. Maybe she just needs time alone. We all need that. But wouldn’t she have just told me? I hoped that we could fix whatever was wrong before tomorrow. I hesitated before turning back to the TV. I had no idea what was happening in the show. Or the shows that followed it. My mind was buzzing, thinking about her. I heard sizzling coming from the kitchen. I got up and went over to supervise. I wanted to see what went wrong with this morning. I stood over her shoulder and peered into the pan. It looked like some kind of meat. Nothing that I recognized. I raised my hand to put it on her shoulder, but right as it was about to make contact, I stopped. Then I retracted it and left. Maybe it is me… Maybe I’ve changed over the year… So I continued to watch the TV until I heard the sounds of plates. There wasn’t all that much to do around here other than watch the TV. I walked out as she finished cutting a slice of the mysterious meat. She then put it on her plate and walked out to the dining room. I walked into the kitchen grabbed the knife, and looked at her. As I looked at her, there was something that was beginning to bubble inside of me. I couldn’t tell what it was, it was faint, like a whisper. I squeezed the knife in my hand. I relaxed, I realized I was getting tense. I cut myself a piece of the meat and plopped it on my plate. I grabbed my fork and sat down across from her. She didn’t bother looking up, she focused on her meat. I took a bite of it and resisted spitting it out. It was awful! It was as if she didn’t cook it at all! She continued to somehow consume it. She looked up at me. “What’s wrong with it?” she asked. I asked her if she even cooked it. She looked at me in utter disbelief. “Of course I did, what kind of question is that?” She asked me. I stood up and left. I went to our room and laid on our bed. I couldn’t handle anymore of today, I just wanted things the way they used to be. This wasn’t right! All I could think about was her. Maybe she woke up on the wrong side of the bed? I was in denial, I was making excuses for her and I knew it. But I still clung to every drop of hope that things would change. Hopefully for the better. After an hour or so she walked into the room and crawled in bed. We didn’t exchange any words. I turned to face her. All I could see was hair.

“Goodnight…” I said. I hesitated before saying the rest. I then turned back around and went to sleep.

The next day hit me like a bus. I woke up. The air was plain with no aromas to be smelled. I looked at the clock. 12:30!? She usually woke me up at 10:00 when I slept in! But that seemed like the least of my concerns. I got up and walked over to the kitchen. She wasn’t there. I walked into the living room. Still wasn’t there. I looked into the laundry room. She was gone. But where? Where did she go? I was deeply concerned. But I also felt that feeling again. This time it was simmering. I looked at the bookcase next to the front door but immediately felt ashamed. It should never come to that. I promised myself that I would never use it. But I continued to stare until the front door opened. It was her. She saw me and I swear she rolled her eyes at me. As if she resented me. I asked where she went. “None of your business.” She replied. Her voice wasn’t as charming as it used to be. There was a raspy tone to it, and I swore I smelled something on her coat, like a factory. I asked if she had been smoking. “None of your business!” She replied with anger. “God, can’t I live my own life without you meddling with it? Sometimes people just need to getaway. I needed to get away from you! You and your nosiness. You and your facade! ‘Goodnight my love!’ That is the most forced thing that I have ever heard! And you have the audacity to ask me where I was? And Intrude on my personal life!? I don’t think so!” She stomped off promptly. I was in shock. I couldn’t move. I was speechless. We spent so many years together. What changed from the year she was away? What happened? The feeling that I felt was stronger than ever. Boiling. This feeling… was rage, anger. I couldn’t believe her! I tried to be a loving husband and she treats me like this? I heard a door slam. I hear shuffling, almost like bags… She turns around the corner, indeed, carrying bags. She bumped into me and made a beeline towards the front door. I quickly asked her where she was going, trying to keep my rage from boiling over. “Where am I going? Where am I going!? I am leaving this house! I am leaving this ditch! I am leaving you! You can now live your own selfish life and find a selfish wife to go along with! You are an inconsiderate jerk who only cared about his own life! You never once asked what I did over the year! You never once cared about me! You’ve been distracting me from your selfish ways! But I see through you. I see through like glass! I’ve had enough of you! We used to be perfect for each other, but you just… you just had to ruin it! You had to ruin my life! I could’ve been successful! We’ve could’ve lived a happy life if you hadn’t been whatever monster you are right now. I can’t even look at you anymore. I hope that we never cross paths again. Goodbye, ‘My love’.” She turned to face the door. Then everything slowed down. I was furious, overwhelmed with rage. I just wanted to scream at her. But instead, I ran to the bookcase, reached behind Moby Dick, grabbed the gun, and shot her. She gasped. I gasped. I dropped it. She reached down, touched the wound, and looked at her fingers. I saw the crimson on her nimble fingers. She turned to look at me, dead in the eyes. Then she collapsed, dead on the floor. I followed suit. The rage was gone. A new feeling overwhelmed me. I grabbed her body and started to caress her face. Oh God! Oh God, what have I done! She looked me in the eyes again and whispered to me. “Why?...” Then it was silent. Her eyes fell to the back of her head. No, No, No, No, No, No, No! This can’t be happening! This must be a dream! But it felt all too real. The emotions. The pain. I looked at her. Tears were starting to form. I looked at where I dropped it. I continued to stare at it while tears streamed down my face. Everything just seemed to happen so fast, yet so slow. I regretted it. I regretted ever thinking of that, letting my rage get to me. I felt deep remorse. I didn’t know what to do. But then it became clear. All too clear. A freshly wiped window. I grabbed it.

“Goodnight…” I paused and thought. “...my love.”

Bang! I was startled out of my couch. That sounded like a gunshot coming from the neighbors! Concern started to fill me. I didn’t know the neighbor too well, but I was still worried that someone was injured. A minute passed, a minute of me debating what I should do. Then there was a second gunshot. I decided that it was too worrisome not to check. I put on my slippers and ran over to the house. I reached the door, which was cracked open, but not enough for me to see inside. I rang the doorbell, not waiting to intrude or put myself in too much danger. I waited for a minute. No one answered. I knocked on the door and it then started to open. I took a peek inside to see what the situation was. I looked down and screamed. There were two corpses both on the floor. There was one with a gun lying right next to it. It looked fresh, crimson painting the floors still.

But the other one, the other one looking rotting, as if it had been dead for a long time.