Eternity
She looked down at it, the smooth band of metal cool in her fingertips. Eternity, it says, the single word engraved on the inner side in swirling calligraphy, Eternity. She had the urge to laugh bitterly at the word that mocked her. This was not the eternity of love they had promised each other so long ago. This was not an eternity of anything. It was a painful reminder of a past she tried so hard to forget.
The past of her marriage: a failure. The spark that had lit it all disappeared as quickly and as suddenly as it had come on that summer day so long ago, when her eyes had met his for the first time. This was a past of constant arguments, yelling and screaming, crying as her husband stormed out to sleep in his office where he retreated to more and more as the days went on. With regular phone calls and empty apologies and his sisters, or colleges, or his best friend arriving at their house in his place. Wishing her a happy birthday, or a merry Christmas. Telling her how sorry he was.
Her husband's late nights in the office became more and more frequent every week. He no longer made the small effort to write short notes to explain his absence every morning. He no longer needed to.
Until one day he woke to find himself alone, even though the hour was early. Next to him, on her pillow lay divorce papers she had filed. He picked them up to see her long perfect signature drawn across the bottom of the page.
He ignored them.
The papers fell back down onto the bed, and as normal he showered and dressed, preparing himself for his long day at work. Once ready he walked from his house, and brief case in hand made his way down the busy streets of the inner city to the coffee shop from which he bought breakfast everyday. An unforeseen accident, that may have been prevented with one glance to the left, made the divorce papers unnecessary.
That day was last week, and his wife, now his widow, sat in the front row of the same church they married in, and stared down at her wedding ring unable to cry for the man she grown to hate so much.
"Do you think we'll make it? Do you think we'll actually be together until death?"
He laughed lightly at her question, "What are you talking about, of course we'll make it, we'll be together for ever."
Satisfied, she smiled, "I love you."
"I know." He smirked, "I love you too. For ever. For eternity."
She let out a small giggle and kissed him softly, "For eternity."
END
