Most Ardently

by Gabe Cole Novoa

It was a special thing, to have one’s reflection in harmony with who they were.

even as the words daughters and ladies skittered down his back on spider legs.

After what she had said to him, he didn’t think his mother was ready to hear the truth. But a part of him worried she may never be ready, and if that was true, what was he to do? He couldn’t go on like this for the rest of his life just because his mother didn’t want to hear the truth. But after today, he was even less prepared to tell her than he was before.

He knew now there would never be a good time, never be a right time. There would always be a reason to wait, to put it off, to torture himself just a day longer. He could survive today. He could survive tomorrow. But a lifetime of pretending he couldn’t abide.