The Bayou Never Tells

by Chelley St. Clair

“Everyone has a moment where they need an angel, and anyone can be the angel in someone’s moment.”

When something ugly digs its thorns in, you figure out how to keep going, and weave it in with the beautiful parts. Know what I mean?”

When something ugly digs its thorns in, you figure out how to weave it in with the beautiful parts.

Whew. My arms drop to my sides, all my muscles relax. That’s a fuckin’ relief. Scared myself a minute, there.

whoa that is not something I ever did to the kids. Where the hell did that thought even come from?

Sighing as he drives away, I etch his image into my mind. This is the last I will ever see of the man who gave me a memory no one else ever will. And it was something.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” — Maya Angelou

I tried to follow my family’s wishes, be a good daughter, pay my parents back for the life of luxury they had given me. But I would give it all up for the ability to start over on my own terms.

“Look around ya, sweetheart. Out here it’s just you, me, and the bayou. The rest of the world can wonder, but your story’s your own ‘til you decide to share it.” I look out over the dark water, thinking of how many secrets it’s held onto for me. “That’s the beauty of this place. Whatever happens here, the bayou won’t never tell...and neither will I.”

“Our secrets die here, right?” She’s pleading with me now. “The bayou keeps them.”

I know our secrets will stay here, between Silas, and Cole...and me. Because the bayou never tells... ...and neither will we.