I often wonder what it would be like when we have a kid. I’ve spent so much of my childhood life assuming I’d be a mother that I never actually stopped to think if I wanted to be one. On Reddit threads and Mommy Instagrams I see women actively weep – weep – when they realize yet again that they are not pregnant. Is that the only way to earn a child? You must want it so badly your life is a void without them?
I understood the general idea of desiring children, the whole “born to be a mother” schtick, and have been in the vicinity of the ache that comes with being motherless.
We’re young, I tell him whenever his hand lingers on my stomach, his plea to become a parent being the third one that week. He doesn’t catch on to my riotous heartbeat, the fear that I may disappoint him yet again when he asks in earnest three years down the road. Will I feel a void big enough then? Would I weep when I saw blood greeting me during yet another month?
No one’s having kids anymore so young, I said.
Everyone’s having kids right now, he replied.
He lets it go, retreats into an online game, his nightly routine.
This? I yell at him from my head. This is what you want to give up? Gaming? Movie nights? Sex? Privacy? Me?
Do mothers who try for children feel lukewarm about bringing a life into this world or is it their ultimate desire – something that feels like their duty. Tending to be lukewarm about everything, I often careen into a spiral whenever he kisses my already-soft belly.
I have always wanted to experience every possible thing in this life. Becoming a mother was just another checkmark on the bucket list of living “life to the fullest.” But I never went back to live in New York. I never went to grad school. Maybe I’ll never be a mother, too.
One night, when in a hypothetical argument – we should know better than to entertain those – I sobbed at the thought of him dying. No stranger to the concept of death, mind you, but the thought of being left alone in this world after spending just shy of a decade with him left me airless. I heaved and could not comprehend why I felt so deeply for something that had not occurred and might not for a while.
This is for a man whom I knew how to live without when I began. How could I bring a fragile easily-killed being into a killing-with-ease world? I am fitted with frayed threads already, constantly having to pull them tight with a little help. Who would I be if something were to happen? How do parents go through basic functions? Perhaps they don’t. Perhaps that’s why we are so fucked-up in the end.
Parasite winning Best Picture (and Best Foreign Film, Best Directing and Best Original Screenplay.) Bong Joon Ho making his little gold men kiss. Bong Joon Ho and Taika.
Seeing Jojo Rabbit and 1917 in theaters — a double feature in one day packed with caramel popcorn and chai lattes.
Booking my first abroad trip for the year. Hint: shitty air quality but great art?
Finding the perfect Zen spot in bustling downtown, tucked away to people-watch and write without being interrupted. A booth, air conditioner and peace & quiet (wouldn’t recommend the dumplings, though.)
Smoothies for lunch! 10/10 would recommend.
Office potluck with chocolate-chip infused cake, the rightful owner to the better-than-sex moniker (?)
New to Netflix added to My List: Horse Girl, Uncut Gems, To all the Boys.
Plants, plants and more plants. Hopping onto the jungalow trend. Can I keep them alive? Can they fit inside the house? Will they fill the void inside me? Only time will tell.
*Teen TikToker voice* Not keeping angry ramblings bottled up inside, but inside forcing Instagram followers to read them disguised as poetry, er, check!
Finally biting the bullet and purchasing the perfect body wash. The smell is *chef’s kiss*. (although I could only afford the smaller version lmao.)
Our new air purifier and Roomba got delivered! F*ck you, dust! Who convinced me it was a good idea to move right beside a highway anyway? Kidding. It’s worth it 😉
That I finally finished this gd list THANK GOD. Hey, it doesn’t have to be good, it just has to exist, right?
Inspired by Austin Kleon’s own 2019-summarized list (I always learn something new when reading his blog posts, go check him out!) here is my Gisselle-ized version that I hope to one-up by the end of 2020. I do hope to make my mundane and trivial moments in this wonderfully challenging year as interesting as Austin’s.
Drove the Hummingbird Highway more than four (!) times. Hugging the hills, stopping at the Xaibel gas station for snacks and bathroom breaks, chasing the sunset to Punta Gorda. Good Spotify playlists with good views.
Went to the southernmost town of my country for the first time.
Started building our little home with the love of my life.
Discovered virtually hidden watering hole in remote village. Took a dip, a dive, made some tamales after, roadtrip to nowhere that later became somewhere.
Saw so. many. dogs.
Saw toucans in the wild for the first time. They are as badass as they seem on the ‘gram.
Went horseback riding for the first time. Ever. To a Maya temple!
Watched great movies. Thought-provoking, comedic, just-to-kill-time and ones I made the effort to go to the theatre the next country over to watch movies. Shoutouts: Knives Out, Once Upon a time…In Hollywood, Joker, Ad Astra, Avengers: Endgame, Doctor Sleep, Shazam!, Booksmart, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Captain Marvel, Velvet Buzzsaw.
Finished more Netflix shows. Living with Yourself, You, Mindhunter, End of the F***ing World, Unbelievable, Haunting of Hill House, GLOW, Russian Doll, The Good Place, Kominsky Method, Jane the Virgin, Derry Girls, Stranger Things, The OA, The Society, Dead to Me, Black Summer, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, If I Hadn’t Met You, The Order, After Life, Atlanta, The Punisher, The Umbrella Academy, Daredevil.
Crosswords done at work during lunchtime, The New Yorker web versions, where it’s fun to click in the answers, scroll for hints and watch the timer go.
My Derry Girls mug, gifted to me for Christmas by a very dear friend.
Experienced the ethereal transcendence that is Battle of the Drums in Punta Gorda, Belize.
My mom’s famously delicious mechadoand the jumbo-sized olives that were in it. You can never have too much olives. Especially during Christmas.
Drinking rumpopo at any time of the day during Christmastime.
Watching and re-watching Ratatouille with my sister. Starting The Mandalorian with my love.
Watching my pups lovingly lick Natsumi, our cat. Our pups chasing butterflies in the yard, where the zinnias are, bursting and colorful and forever being replanted. Spending time up on the roof at dusk, with Simba and Penny, their noses huffing at the violet garlic vines.
Face masks with my love and sister.
My baby sister coming back for break from her first semester.
The perfect relleno only my grandmother knows how to make.
Seeing all the ‘Juans’ being burned on New Year’s Eve. The stuffed hand-made dolls being set aflame to burn all the bad of 2019, starting 2020 fresh.
Every Wings Thursday with my love, waiting for that day so we can watch The Office (U.S.)/Buzzfeed Unsolved/My Hero Academia while munching on barbecued drumsticks and fries.
Driving to Chetumal once a month to see a new movie, the Cinepolis nachos with extra cheese and the perfect chai latte to go with it.
Sophie’s baptism, her letting me hold her for the first time. That one time she saw me and came running to give me a hug, stopped when she reached me, and changed her mind. But I still counted it because she doesn’t get excited by many people.
To writing. Writing more fiction. Starting a manuscript. Getting rejected from publications because it meant I was submitting to publications.
Learning to cut my own hair without fucking it up (too much.)
Eating dumplings & drinking tapioca while watching The Office in a crowded cafe.
The Husky I saw on my way to work everyday but was too shy to ask the owner if I could pet it.
Thrifting at the local thrift store, finding gems that would make a perfect planter or catch-all tray in my new home.
Going to Disney Springs with him. Walking all evening into the night, stopping into the store seeing the Christmas displays (it was July), him asking for a personalized Disney castle ornament, our names painted in sloped, elegant handwriting. Now hanging on our Christmas tree.
Eating at a Rainforest Cafe for the first time.
Learning the art of making hudut, a Garifuna dish that I now crave whenever the weather dips.
To meeting new people, making (and staying) friends with them.
Lighting my new Dyptique candle, sending a scent of cleanliness throughout my room.
Becoming a Star Wars fan. But not yet a stan, (did I use that right?)
Seeing giant loggerhead turtles while snorkeling, swimming with sting rays and nurse sharks.
Kayaking at sunset in the Caribbean Sea.
Staying up at night on the dock talking with new-found friends, hearing the sharks splash and rays bump into each other.
Celebrating eight years with him.
Laughing at viral TikToks. Learning how to use TikTok.
Freshly-washed silk pillowcases.
Full moon on a beach in Mexico, trudging through the sand, getting lost in the shrubbery.
Random date by the Caribbean sea, spontaneous one-hour drive, oven-baked pizza and piña coladas. Driving back at sunset.
My birthday picnic, with a perfect straight-out-of a story picnic basket.
This quote by Austin Kleon: “It doesn’t have to be good. It just has to exist.”
Getting to know a new island, barbecue for lunch. Following baby hermit crabs around the island as they hid beneath rocks. Cupping big hermit crabs, crawling over my legs. Tickling.
Falling in love with a Klimt “Expectation” at my thrift store. Debating whether to buy it. Didn’t. Regretted it. Came home, found out a week later that he bought it for me and gave it a new wooden, gold frame. It will hang in our new home.
Talking about movies at work, talking about shows at work.
Seeing a really dear college friend after two years.
Riding the Spider-Man ride at Universal twice.
The bus ride to Merida. Stopping at a tiny village for bathroom break, eating the local panades and salbutes, hopping back on the bus, napping for three more hours. Waking up to him, staring out the window at sunrise.
Having debuted in 2014, this animated tragicomedy follows the life of washed up Hollywoo (not Hollywood) actor BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett) as he combats himself through alcoholism, depression and other heartbreaking plot devices Peachy, right? Though the show is off to a slow start, the rest of the seasons (Season 6’s first half premiered on Oct. 25, 2019) are artfully spun into a web of no-bullshit storytelling that if it weren’t for the wacky animal characters (Horseman himself is, well, a horse) you’d forget it was an animated series at all.
Horseman as the protagonist has most of the iconic lines that are usually quoted in BuzzFeed articles, of course, but his best friend/ghost writer Diane Nguyen arguably portrays how many of us who battle with depression actually feel.
Diane is introduced as a writer and ends up working for BoJack when she begins to write his memoir. Throughout the series, we see layers of her peel back to reveal that she is bottom-line, just like her self-deprecating, depressed equine-friend. Ironically, or perhaps in line with her character traits, she marries Mr. Peanutbutter, the yellow Lab who is a complete reflection of the breed he is – always, a 100% of the time, happy (again, ironically, Mr. Peanutbutter goes on to be the “face of depression” in Season 6 basically because it’s ‘trendy.’)
Spoiler – Diane ends up divorcing Mr. Peanutbutter but still happiness eludes her. She constantly thinks of herself as a failure as a writer, and is basically aimless throughout her life. The reason Diane, and not BoJack, resonates with me so is because the show’s writers don’t bullshit or romanticize what it’s like to be depressed, unlike many other shows out there.
Here are a few quotes Diane says throughout the series that truly show what it’s like to live with depression. Whereas Mr. Peanutbutter is awarded for “showing a few tears despite being a man” – er, dog – Diane’s quips and constant view that it’s her against the world encapsulate what it feels to simply not find joy.
1.
Season 3, Ep. 3 BoJack Kills
When she asked herself “Am I happy?” A loaded question many of us cannot answer.
2.
Season 4, Ep. 6 Stupid Piece of Sh*t
Here, Diane converses with Todd (Aaron Paul), BoJack’s couch surfing, wholesome friend, about marriage. But it can apply to anything we want to hold onto in life that we think is good for us.
3.
Season 4, Ep. 7 Underground
Mr. Peanutbutter built an extravagant house and room for Diane, who was his then-wife. Diane doesn’t like the room, and here she expresses how baffled she is that despite having the elements to a ‘perfect life’, she still cannot be happy. She has a good husband, a great home and overall great life. She insists she is a “pit” where good things fall into because of the emptiness she feels.
4.
Season 4, Ep. 12 What Time Is It Right Now
“Diane: You know sometimes I feel like our marriage is like a magic eye poster.
Mr. Peanutbutter: I love those things
Diane: I know. And it’s messy. And at first glance it doesn’t seem to make any sense. And it’s hard to figure out. But sometimes if you squint at it just right everything lines up and it’s the most perfect…beautiful amazing thing.
Mr. Peanutbutter: Yeah. I know what you mean
Diane: But…I’m so tired of squinting.”
Arguably one of the most heart-breaking lines in the show, this quote hit home. For many who fight with depression, there are only certain limited elements that perhaps will let us see the “bright side.” There are moments where we glance upon something that brings us utter joy, only to be catapulted back to the dark place when you realize it’s been so long since you’ve actually felt joy, and become mad at yourself for being “broken” or as Diane says, “Busted.”
5.
Season 4, Ep. 7 Underground
Now that more people have become sensitive to those with mental illness in this age, we don’t hear phrases like “chin up,” or “just focus on the bright side” as often whenever someone confides their depressive feelings. Those who suffer from mental illness oftentimes try to convince themselves that if they just “work harder” and “stop being so negative” it will all get better. It often doesn’t work that way (though working towards a goal with your therapist is a great way to start the journey.)
6.
Season 2, Ep. 4 After the Party
I think this one is self-explanatory. And while most of us feel this way at least once in our lives, its constant for those with mental illness, especially those with anxiety.
7.
Season 5, Ep. 12 The Stopped Show
And finally, “I am a rudderless burning large garbage barge.” I think this sums up most of millennials at the moment, tbh.
Bonus:
You might be thinking, “Holy shit, why would I watch such a f*cking depressing show?” And honestly, I have no argument for that. It’s not for everybody if you’re not in the right mental space. But it does paint struggles and every day f*cked up aspects of life that make it a brilliant show with expert writing. Season 6 is the show’s final season, with the rest of the episodes airing on Netflix in January 2020.
Spoiler for Season 6:
The first half that premiered this fall does show a bit of redemption of some characters, or at least on a path to general not-unhappiness. This last one, Diane has just started dating this wonderful buffalo Guy (literally named Guy) (voiced by Lakeith Stanfield), but she ends up breaking up with him because she has decided that she doesn’t want to make the same mistake she did with Mr. Peanutbutter, where she makes her significant other her savior. (Spoiler again: Diane and Guy do get back together.)
Season 6, Ep. 3 Feel-Good Story
Diane is constantly trying to outrun her self-destructive tendencies and it seems here she wanted to be ahead of herself in potentially destroying something good she had. She made me realize just because you aren’t a hundred percent in a good mental health space doesn’t mean you should deny yourself things – or people – that make you happy.
The debate continues on whether Diane is a likeable character, as she tends to do hypocritical things, run away from her problems while also trying to help every single human being on Earth. Likeable character or not, many of her words through the series are relatable and that’s perhaps what makes her a complicated character after all.
Overall a great show with an array of talented writers, BoJack Horseman continues to weave the messiness of life with comedic tidbits keeping it all together.
If you believe you suffer from mental illness, feel free to reach out for help at any time with friends, loved ones and/or a mental health professional.
In the digital age where we must dodge Game of Thrones spoilers everywhere we turn (some might say it is even your fault for not keeping up), we must protect Avengers: Endgame at all costs. The highly anticipated premiere is tonight, culminating an era comprising 22 movies and perhaps the highest-grossing franchise of all time. For those of you who were quick enough to snatch your movie tickets two weeks ago, kudos to you. For those of us who have work and must wait until the weekend, I wish you all the best.
But what about those who are the latter and can’t stay offline due to their job? For those Marvel fans who double as social media managers or Digital content writers, you have to always be monitoring what’s trending and what the hot topics are online. But how can you hop on the Twitter trending topics when those inconsiderate trolls are sneaking Endgame spoilers throughout the timeline? Here’s how to avoid ruining your Endgame experience.
Schedule. Schedule. Schedule. As a social media manager, or whatever your online post is, you should already be familiar with social media calendars. Curating your monthly posts so as to not be scrambling at the last minute is basic social media practice. Now more than ever, you must prepare for at least the next few days every single post across social channels you need to put online for your brand. Schedule them out and that lessens the likelihood of you spotting something you didn’t want to.
Mute like your life depends on it. Twitter has this nifty little feature where you can mute words or phrases so they don’t pop up on your timeline. This might be tricky, as you might think you muted all the main phrases and important characters’ names and then wham! You forgot about some secondary character and then their death or some other spoiler slaps you in the face while scrolling.
Delete the apps and manage on desktop. If your brand/company doesn’t have a floater social media smartphone, you more than likely manage social media monitoring tools, like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, on your desktop. These are great platforms where you can customize social listening to your brand, so you can avoid anything that doesn’t pertain to you. You will still see your mentions, comments and timeline still without the risk of being spoiled like when scrolling on your phone. That said, delete all your social media apps. That might be the only definite way you won’t be tempted to search the #Endgame hashtag tonight. Besides, if you’re a Marvel fan, (like me) and have been waiting for this moment for a looooong time, not being on social for a couple days is worth it.
When all else fails, avoid Twitter like the plague and hope your boss understands. With such a gargantuan franchise coming to an end in the MCU, you can’t take any chances. Especially if you’ve done the effort of buying tickets beforehand, had a Marvel watch party leading up to it, and are avoiding wearing mascara to the showing because we all know it will be a sob fest. If you’ve done all of the above, you should be fairly safe, but you never know when someone coming out of the theater as you’re walking in might murmur something that undoes everything.
Even if you do get spoiled, don’t let it ruin your anticipation. Regardless, the movie ought to be a good one, even if you sort of know how it ends. Sit back with your snacks, have fun, and remember: Don’t Spoil the Endgame.
With Netflix making it so easy to binge all your favorite shows, you often find yourself scouring for new series to watch. As the major streaming platform keeps pushing out more original content, I try to find those ones that may go unnoticed, especially the foreign ones because the majority of viewers don’t usually gravitate toward those. Here are five Netflix shows you may not have heard of, but are definitely worth checking out.
1. Dark, (2017)
Reddit: u/VIINarcz
This German show has the setting and basis quite similar to the super popular show, Stranger Things. A little boy goes missing in this town, and unexplainable things begin to happen. As the entire town searches for this boy, the protagonist, Jonas, uncovers some of the town’s darkest secrets. Without attempting to spoil, if you like sci-fi regarding time/space, this show is for you. Where Stranger Things has the comedic side to cushion the heaviness of the show, Dark is all sharp edges, drama, and the plot of it all requires some heavy thinking. Throughout the show, you are sucked in and become one of the town’s inhabitants, questioning everything you thought you knew and feeling hopeless frustration in trying to understand what is so wrong with this town. The acting is superb and the score is perfectly creepy. Dark is perhaps one of my favorite Netflix shows.
2. After Life, (2019)
Deadline
I wasn’t familiar with Ricky Gervais’ work before this show, and if it is any indication to what he can do, by God this man is a comedic genius. In this English show, we follow the life of Tony, a recent widower who (understandably) cannot get over the loss of his wife. Tony works at a small, local newspaper, which publishes things like a wall stain that looks like Sir Kenneth Branagh, or how a local boy can play the flute with both nostrils (not one, but both.) Every single episode pulls at your heart, making you laugh so hard at how hilarious he is and also weeping as he tries to traverse through his crippling grief. Tony casually mentions he wants to kill himself every chance he gets, but literally the only thing keeping him from doing so, he says, is that his dog needs to get fed. This show, only one season so far, is raw, beautiful and puts things into perspective.
3. If I Hadn’t Met You, (2018)
Netflix
Another one of my favorites in the space/time continuum genre, this Catalán show is, simply put, wack. Similar to Dark and After Life combined almost, the protagonist is Eduard, who loses his entire family in an accident. Before taking his own life due to guilt and grief, he is approached by a weird scientist who gives him the chance to explore multiverses in an attempt to save his family and/or see them again in different universes. Done without cheesy dialogue and original plot, this is another show that knows how to delicately tell the story without it feeling too sci-fi-y. The score is also another huge component in this series, as is the marvelous way of how the characters play different versions of themselves.
4. The Kominsky Method, (2018)
Variety
This is perhaps arguably more mainstream than the others on this list, but because I think it doesn’t get the praise it deserves I’ll chuck it in here. With charming Michael Douglas as the star, this Chuck Lorre-created show has mostly dialogue humor, and is completely character-driven. Douglas does an exceptional job playing a washed-up actor-turned acting coach. He’s basically a poli-sci majoring frat boy in an old man’s – who may have prostate cancer – body. Sandy Kominsky (Douglas) and his best friend Norman (Alan Larkin) is your neighboring bickering couple if your neighbors were filthy rich from being in movies and had drinking problems. Watching Sandy go through life trying to figure himself out, even in his late 60s, is amiable and amusing.
5. Mindhunter, (2017)
Cosmopolitan
This one is produced by David Fincher (Fight Club, Gone Girl) so you have an idea what it’s going to be like. The show is set in the late ’70s, when the FBI had not yet coined the term “Serial Killer.” After the high-stakes case of well-known killer Charles Manson, the entire law enforcement sector was on edge. A crime drama, this leans to the more psychological side than actual murderous rampages we may see in other crime dramas. Two FBI agents travel across the country teaching local law enforcement how to deal with these types of ‘people’. Along the way they solve cases and occasionally chit chat with high profile serial killers. The basis of this movie is “what makes serial killers tick?” in an attempt to perhaps answer the most elusive question of all: are monsters born, or made?
Though this list is not exhaustive, there are some of the ones I find myself recommending to people. They may not have had their share of viral fame on the Internet, but are totally binge-able and really entertaining. What are some of your favorite Netflix shows?
Back in 2017 after I graduated from college, I was in that typical limbo in my life coupled with post-grad depression that many of us experience. I went to Boston for the summer to look after my younger cousins, then in August when I flew back to Belize the feeling of dread returned.
Everyone who has ever found themselves in that unsure position of bleak future prospects know how worrisome it actually is.
What are you gonna do now? What if you never get a job? What if you stay unemployed forever?
These feelings consumed me for months, buying newspaper after newspaper, sending both solicited and unsolicited application emails hoping that something – anything – would happen. I thought about going back to school, starting my own projects, and many other “last resort” things I could do.
I remember waking up every day month after month with an unfathomable anguish that this could easily be the rest of my life. Irrational, I know, but most depressive thoughts are.
That’s when my mother randomly suggested a Vipassana retreat. In hindsight, I wonder if I was getting in her way or seemed that bad for her to suggest such an extreme venture. My mother is someone who worries for my life if I just go 15 minutes into town to get something at the store. For those of you who don’t know, the Vipassana retreat is a 10-day silent meditation retreat hosted in different places across Europe and Asia. No talking (to anyone). No internet. No phones. No WiFi. No WRITING. No meat (only vegetarian food). No contact. Nothing.
So for my neurotic mother to suggest such a thing was questionable at best. But hey, I was desperate enough in that moment of my life that I wanted anything to be an anchor — an excuse — to pull me out of what I considered a rut. I had tunnel vision, and now looking back I knew there were people with much worse problems than I, but that’s something I work on now.
So my mom sent me the link, and I saw all these features about the retreat and I kept wondering if I had the balls to do it. It’s discipline. It’s hard work. It’s meditation. It’s solitary confinement. In short, it’s torture. Why someone would do that to themselves, I don’t understand, but like I said I was desperate. Plus I had always considered myself to be a resilient person, so I figured why the hell not. So I signed up.
Obviously I didn’t end up going, and I don’t know what it would have been like. Or how I would have been like. I genuinely believe there are few things in this world that are truly “life-changing”, despite what the selling message of the retreat is.
I was simply running away to not face my own discomfort of a normal process in life. In January 2018, I interviewed for a wonderful job and I got it. Being there more than a year now, I’m glad of the choices I made. And didn’t make.
I guess what I’m trying to say is a centuries-old message: what’s for you will be for you.
Do you all agree with that sentiment, or are you more of a life-is-what-you-make- it type of person? Feel free to share your thoughts below.
“The fate of my life is in crossing fingers?” Paco yelled.
“Note to self: acolytes being hunted do not have a sense of humor.” I took out the russet-colored blade
from my jacket and approached the many lives of the Creo Brotherhood before me.
“Hurry. I can hear them coming.”
“Do you wanna live or do you wanna hurry?” I took a silken
thread between my index finger and thumb, and snipped. “Well?”
I turned around, realizing I was now alone. “Oops.”
This was written as part of Rochelle Wisoff’s 100-word fiction challenge prompted by a photo. To read other stories in the challenge, click below.
“Describe it to me.” She felt Dan’s fingers interlace with
hers, his palm smooth and warm. Feminine.
“Well, it’s colorful. And big. Giant.”
She smacked his arm. “Be specific!”
“Okay, okay.” He took a breath. “It’s beautiful in an
attention-grabbing way, but without ego. It’s round, which makes it pleasing to
look at somehow. And couples are sitting on every seat, huddled up.”
She sighed. “I wish we were one of them.”
“Me too.” He looked at her, the reflection in her dark sunglasses showed his own face streaked with silent tears, the giant, colorful wheel looming behind him.
This is part of Friday Fictioneers 100-word writing challenge, hosted by Rochelle. Click here to read more.
Lucas crossed his arms, his face contorted in anger.
“I told you we couldn’t get another one,” he seethed. “Get it out of here.”
I had promised I wouldn’t cry on this trip, but then, I was never good at keeping promises. I scooped up Keaton – I had named him already – from the leather seat. His claws immediately sunk into my arm, but it was less painful than Lucas forcing me to leave him here. I stroked his fur, and thought of all the things Lucas had made me leave behind before. Maybe this time, Lucas would be one of them.
This is part of a 100-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Rochelle. To read more stories, click below.
The Pen & Harpoon 