Happily Never After

by Lynn Painter

“Are you laughing at me?” I asked, not caring if he was. “I’m enjoying you,”

my melancholy over my foolishness doesn’t negate how spectacular my independence is.”

Why can’t I not care about all the little things that pop up on a daily basis and remind me of what I thought we’d be?” “Because it was your whole world,” I said. “Every moment of every day belonged to the two of you, together. So how do you not feel a loss when those moments are only yours now?”