Free Write (Plane) Pt:1 and Pt:2

I was given a prompt for writing (an opening statement), and this is what I came up with. Thank you to everyone who gave me an idea, you guys really helped, and I appreciate it! Let me know what you guys think...

When he stepped out of the plane he was shocked to see her sitting there. Her legs crossed, right foot moving up and down to a rhythm only she could hear. He stood in awe of her shoulder length brown hair, tucked neatly behind her ears. The way her glossy pink lips parted slightly as she read the novel resting in her lap. Even from this distance he could see the tiny freckles that dotted her nose and the top of her cheek bones. The way her blue eyes dart from side to side, twists his stomach in knots. He can swear he smells the coconut lotion she uses among the myriad of scents in the crowded waiting room. As the sight of her floods his mind with memories, he pauses in the doorway and journey’s back 10 years.

She sits there on the love seat, her left knee gently brushing his right thigh. He can’t look her in the eyes; he doesn’t want to see her crying. He doesn’t want to see those beautiful eyes, those windows to her hopes and dreams, filled with pain, sadness, and regret. She holds his hand. She doesn’t hold it to feel close to him, she holds his hand to keep him from falling to pieces. The voice that has whispered “I love you,” “I need you,” “you’re my everything,” now screams “I’m leaving,” “I’m unhappy,” and “it’s over.” The bile has risen in his throat and he fears he will vomit if she doesn’t stop talking soon. Her words have caused more pain than he has ever experienced. He expects to look down and see each of her statements has left a bleeding wound. He knows he should have something to say in response, but he can think of nothing. He drifts to all the times they lay under covers, her head resting on his chest. Her hot breath on his bare skin, as her slender fingers caressed circles above his heart. Being in that moment and thinking “right here, right now, everything in the world is right.” He doesn’t know how this can be happening. How does unconditional love, planning a future, and growing old together turn to unanswered questions, unhappiness and drifting apart? His thoughts are spiraling as she’s saying his name. She’s calling him back, pulling him from the recesses of his mind. She’s asking him to say something. Anything. She wants to know he feels the same and it’s not just her. She needs to hear she’s not the bad guy. He finds himself telling her he feels the same, but he knows it’s a lie. Even as she is breaking his heart, he doesn’t want to cause her pain. Even as he feels her love slipping through his fingers, he hopes she can be happy someday. She’s calling his name again. Instead of sadness he can hear surprise in her voice. He’s trying to hold on to the memory of her smile, but the memory fades, as she calls out his name.

He opens his eyes. He’s standing again in the doorway of the terminal. There she is standing in front of him, saying his name. She’s looking at him the way she used to. The way it used to cause butterflies from his head to his toes. There’s no sadness in her smile. Her eyes, the eyes he spent so many nights lost in, are filled with tears of surprise and happiness. She reaches out and wraps her arms around his neck and rests her head on his shoulder. She’s whispering “I can’t believe it’s you, it’s really you,” and as he feels her in his arms and the smell of her skin envelops him, he can’t help but think, “right here, right now, everything in the world is right.”

​A few of you asked to read the end of the prompt I wrote last week, so here it is. I copied the first installment in case you wanted to read it in its entirety. I hope you like it, or hate it. As long as it makes you feel SOMETHING!

When he stepped out of the plane he was shocked to see her sitting there. Her legs crossed, right foot moving up and down to a rhythm only she could hear. He stood in awe of her shoulder length brown hair, tucked neatly behind her ears. The way her glossy pink lips parted slightly as she read the novel resting in her lap. Even from this distance he could see the tiny freckles that dotted her nose and the top of her cheek bones. The way her blue eyes dart from side to side, twists his stomach in knots. He can swear he smells the coconut lotion she uses among the myriad of scents in the crowded waiting room. As the sight of her floods his mind with memories, he pauses in the doorway and journey’s back 10 years.

She sits there on the love seat, her left knee gently brushing his right thigh. He can’t look her in the eyes; he doesn’t want to see her crying. He doesn’t want to see those beautiful eyes, those windows to her hopes and dreams, filled with pain, sadness, and regret. She holds his hand. She doesn’t hold it to feel close to him, she holds his hand to keep him from falling to pieces. The voice that has whispered “I love you,” “I need you,” “you’re my everything,” now screams “I’m leaving,” “I’m unhappy,” and “it’s over.” The bile has risen in his throat and he fears he will vomit if she doesn’t stop talking soon. Her words have caused more pain than he has ever experienced. He expects to look down and see each of her statements has left a bleeding wound. He knows he should have something to say in response, but he can think of nothing. He drifts to all the times they lay under covers, her head resting on his chest. Her hot breath on his bare skin, as her slender fingers caressed circles above his heart. Being in that moment and thinking “right here, right now, everything in the world is right.” He doesn’t know how this can be happening. How does unconditional love, planning a future, and growing old together turn to unanswered questions, unhappiness and drifting apart? His thoughts are spiraling as she’s saying his name. She’s calling him back, pulling him from the recesses of his mind. She’s asking him to say something. Anything. She wants to know he feels the same and it’s not just her. She needs to hear she’s not the bad guy. He finds himself telling her he feels the same, but he knows it’s a lie. Even as she is breaking his heart, he doesn’t want to cause her pain. Even as he feels her love slipping through his fingers, he hopes she can be happy someday. She’s calling his name again. Instead of sadness he can hear surprise in her voice. He’s trying to hold on to the memory of her smile, but the memory fades, as she calls out his name.

He opens his eyes. He’s standing again in the doorway of the terminal. There she is standing in front of him, saying his name. She’s looking at him the way she used to. The way it used to cause butterflies from his head to his toes. There’s no sadness in her smile. Her eyes, the eyes he spent so many nights lost in, are filled with tears of surprise and happiness. She reaches out and wraps her arms around his neck and rests her head on his shoulder. She’s whispering “I can’t believe it’s you, it’s really you,” and as he feels her in his arms and the smell of her skin envelops him, he can’t help but think, “right here, right now, everything in the world is right.”...

Part 2

…her hands still tightly gripping his neck, she pulled away and looked into his eyes. He could see how deeply time had changed her. The ever present sparkle had become a mere glint swimming in a pool of blue. He wanted to tell her he thought about her every day, and still kept a picture of her in his wallet. Ten years had weathered its edges and dulled its brightness, but the smile she wore still warm. He needed to tell her what a fool he’d been for letting her walk away. He should have fought for the love they shared. He should have reminded her of the future they had planned. Everything he wanted to say swirled in his mind as he watched a tear slip from her eye and roll softly down her cheek. She moved her hands into his, squeezing ever so slightly, as if to say, ‘We’re here together, but as two separate people.’ Peeling his stare from the glistening trail on her cheek, he watched a small boy approach. A blonde haired toddler with a nose exactly like his mother’s tugged gently on her shirt tail, a tall, handsome man two steps behind. He could hear her talking but couldn’t make out the words. She introduced him to her husband and the child they shared. He swallowed all the memories of the two of them, so sharp he almost choked. The butterflies all gone now, replaced with a sad resignation. She touched him on the shoulder, just a gesture to say goodbye. He didn’t want to see her leave, but he turned and watched her go. One hand holding her husbands, the other holding her sons, he saw how happy she had become. For ten years he had questioned how he could have made her smile. For ten years he had wondered if he could have made her happy. Watching her walk out of his life for a second time, he finally recognized that all things happen for a reason.
He drove home in complete silence. The sound of the highway under the tires the only noise keeping his mind occupied. Pulling up to the house he lived in as a child, he thought of his parents, both long dead of cancer. Did they give him this house because they knew he’d come back one day? Did they know he’d come back the same way he’d left? Alone. He carried no bags for this journey needed no comforts. He made his way to the room he slept in as a child. Everything the same as it’d been when he’d left to live with his uncle when he was 12, except the thick layer of dust that had accumulated atop the furniture. He didn’t bother to pull down the moth eaten sheets, or cover himself in the tattered comforter. He lay in a bed far too small for him now, and cried for the first time in years. The disease that had claimed his parents now running rampant inside his own body, he cried for the things he never finished. For the words he never said. For the times he never touched her just to feel her softness. The times he never told her he loved her just because. Tears mixing with dust, he closed his eyes and thanked whoever was listening for letting him see her one last time. He had believed he’d come to this house and die alone, but with her scent upon his skin, and the vision of her smile in his mind, he took a deep breath, and let her memory caress him to sleep.