Ethan There he sits, alone at the table. The room is filled with an unfamiliar silence. Tears stream down his face as he reminisces about her unfading beauty. The chair directly across from him was once occupied by a woman with a heart of gold, the only woman worthy of a love bigger than his heart could offer. Now she was gone. When he glanced up, the all too familiar chair she sat in day after day hadn’t moved from the position she’d left it in. Partially pushed in, angled to the right side. An all too familiar habit she did which he had become accustomed to seeing her do. He stared at the chair and realized that there would no longer be meals shared between the two lovers, no more intimate conversations, and no more early mornings sitting with the most sincere and beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. The sadness was overwhelming as he placed his utensils over his plate. Without her presence to light up the room, everything had lost its luster. One last tear fell directly over his napkin and he got up, pushed in his chair, and turned out the light. And in that moment, he took one more glance at the table. It felt incomplete. The table seated two, but would now only seat one. “If it can’t seat two, it won’t seat any,” he thought to himself. The empty chair remained partially pushed in, angled to the right side. He irrevocably decided to never sit at that table again. Ethan and Alyssa had been married for twenty five years. In all those years together, they were the envied couple of the block; always happy and never seeming to have an argument. But what no one knew was that Ethan and Alyssa no longer slept in the same bed, didn’t speak at the dinner table, and neither of them could remember the last time they had shared a decent conversation together. Once best friends, now they seemed like strangers sharing a home. This saddened Ethan, but he very well knew he was at fault. After long hours at the office, Ethan would fail to come home to Alyssa. He began staying out later and later, eventually finding himself in the arms of other women. Ethan didn’t love any of the women he found himself with. He merely used them as a form of relaxation after a long day at the office. Why he didn’t just go home to Alyssa was something he would never understand. He loved Alyssa, shouldn’t that be enough? But these women he lusted after seemed to give more of the thrill he desired. Desire. That came to be a word he hated, for that was what in the end ruined his marriage. As he always did when he was feeling uneasy, Ethan began to write like a madman. This thing that is, why must it be?This thing that is, why must it be?For look at what it’s done to you and me?
Once, always together, never apartNow, almost like strangers, we fell apart
Patch up our holes, I beg on my kneesMy night time prayers have turned into pleas
I miss you terriblyIt hurts from withinWithout you by my side, I’ll never win
I miss you terriblyIt hurts deep insideWhen I look at you, the pain I can’t hideI hope we can find our way backto one another,but if we don’t,I know we’ll always be together,for we can’t be apart,maybe in distance, but always in heart.
Alyssa In twenty five years, Alyssa could never have imagined that her marriage would end up like this. The man she has loved all her life betrayed her in the worst kind of way and she felt helpless. What had she done to deserve this kind of pain? She had always been a good wife, staying true to her marriage vows and loving her husband unconditionally. Now her marriage was over. She would move out of the house they had picked out together, leave behind all the memories she had made with Ethan, and somehow she would find the strength to live on. Caught up in a mixture of emotions, Alyssa turned to the pages of her journal for comfort. “What are you supposed to do when certain situations don’t permit you to be with the person you love most in this world? How am I supposed to go on without the warmth of your smile, the touch of your hand, the feel of your embrace? You were my everything, my reason for waking up in the morning, my strength, my life partner. How do I bear the pain of us being apart? I cannot handle the hollowness I feel within. The emptiness inside me is far worse than a child’s cry for help. I need you here with me. You are my comfort, my joy, my reason for existence. Please know that my heart is filled with love for you. An overabundance of the greatest of all loves, an overproduction of wasted emotions that will never reach you. My heart can only produce the finest of all loves, and they will remain there for all of eternity. It will remain there because you and I can never be together again, maybe in dreams, but never in reality.”