The Day He Came Back

by Penelope Ward

I’d never dreamed that today—a random Wednesday—would be the day he came back.

“That’s too bad! He needs to know. He deserves the truth, even if it’s hard to take.” “I wouldn’t even know how to tell him.” “That’s easy. You say ‘Gavin, I’m sorry to inform you, but your mother was a cunt.’ Then you tell him the story.”

You know how when people lose a limb, they say they can sometimes still feel it, even though it isn’t there? That happens with a broken heart, too. Sometimes you can still feel the love you had for someone inside your heart, even after they shattered it.

“Wait.” My heart sped up, thinking she might say something compelling. Instead, she unzipped my hoodie, took it off, and held it out to me. When I took it, our hands touched. She still looked so…sad. On impulse, I wrapped the hoodie back around her shoulders before using the sleeves to pull her into an embrace. I just felt like she needed it. Or maybe it was me who needed it. “Keep the hoodie.”