The Cuckoo's Call

by Lily Morton

I look back at Teo’s sleeping figure and finally let my hopes die away. They weren’t big or grandiose. I just wanted someone who would be my best friend and never abandon me. I wanted it to be Teo because I love him deeply, but that is also why I must leave. Look at what my love has brought him—brawling outside a club that will likely be splashed over the front pages of gossip magazines. I think of his family’s sneers, and I groan. It seems they were right all along. Even Leandro was right. I am a bauble on Teo’s tree, and he feels protective towards me. He will defend me and look after me, but he’ll never allow himself to feel passionate love for me—not the way I feel about him. I feel like a tiny, vulnerable fish moving through a foreign sea with obstacles everywhere. It is time to go home. I stay sitting on the chair watching Teo. It’s not just to make sure he’s okay, but also to fasten his sleeping face in my mind so I’ll never forget it. I listen to the clock on the wall as it ticks away my time with him. There are only hours and not days left now.

💔😭