Author's Note: Another vignette. I'm not totally happy with it, but that's normal. Written while under the influence of "The Freshmen" by The Verve Pipe. A little bit of me working some things out, and trying to break another nasty bout of writer's block. Anyways, I present to you:
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FREEDOM
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Sunlight streamed in through the open window as he lay on his back, his eyes rooted to the ceiling, his arms resting behind his head. White silk hanging from the light fixture caught his eye and he allowed his gaze to roam around the room, seeing it all in the clear light. A high-heeled shoe lay discarded on its side; its mate's location unknown. Piles of white satin and tulle lay strewn about the room, discarded by its wearer in the heat of passion the night before.
He groaned inwardly as he took in the scene of disarray. Glancing over at the still-sleeping woman next to him he grimaced. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. This wasn't how the story was supposed to end.
She stirred as the cries of an infant punctured the air, and was up in a moment, paying him nothing more than a short notice as she moved automatically towards the nursery.
'No,' he mused silently to himself, one hand coming to rest in the impossible spikes of his blonde hair. 'This isn't the way it's supposed to be.' He picked up a pillow and placed it over his head to drown out the cries coming from the other room. 'Why, Holy, why?'
His … wife - yes, she was now his wife- returned to the bedroom, the reason for his marriage now cooing quietly in his mother's arms. He tossed the pillow onto the bed next to him and got up wordlessly. He'd done the right thing; finally given his kid a name, but he couldn't live this life any longer. He couldn't live the lie.
Her eyes followed him as he pulled on clothes and moved towards the door. Without a word he was gone. As the door slammed behind him, she wept. She knew he wasn't coming back.
*****
He rode up to the cliffs south of Kalm. The wind whipping through his hair, the roar of the engine of the bike in his ears; he never wanted to stop the feeling of exhilaration. It was euphoric freedom- without a woman he could never love, without the child that never should have been. Just him, his bike, and the great unknown. The edge of the cliff beckoned to him and he spent not a moment's thought before he answered its call.
He'd never felt so free in his life.