One Small Mistake

by Dandy Smith

Telling stories is my first, most long-lasting love. The best kind because the paper will never reject my pen. It is a lover I can’t quit and when I let it wrap its arms around me, it feels so good, I wonder why I’ve stayed away so long.

But I can’t take back what I said. That’s the thing about words – once they’re out there, they’re no longer just yours. They hang in the quiet and are plucked like cherries from a tree then, bitter or sweet, they’re devoured.

There’s something freeing about taking all those swirly thoughts from your head and storing them elsewhere. When you put pen to paper you can say whatever you like, however you like, and there’s no one to judge. I could write all my darkest thoughts down on this sheet and burn it afterwards and no one would know. It’s a freedom I’ve never felt before.

‘Love is always a risk; it’s giving another person the power to destroy you and hoping they choose not to, but when it goes right …’ I don’t even think she’s aware that as she says this, her gaze drifts towards Christopher. ‘When it goes right, it’s like falling through stars.’