Dear Ex,
We went through so much together;
You and me.
Through Hell; Through Heaven;
And everything in between.
All together,
As soul mates.
We were going places.
You and me.
Until you thought we were not made for each other.
That you were way better than me.
You said that I was a ‘nothing’ without you by my side:
Useless. Trash. You were right.
The last time I saw you, you said you had a lot more places to go.
You said I was holding you back.
Yesterday, I heard that you were found in a gutter…
—-end —
This less than 100 word story/letter was written in response to a 100 word photo challenge posted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields each week.
Click on the ‘blue frog’ below to read other amazing takes on the same photo prompt:
Roots & Water 
Interesting take. Humorous on one side, very sad on the other.
You said ,I was holding you back. (no comma needed)
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Thank you . I have removed the comma.
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Very sad indeed. I do feel sorry for both of them, though. Nicely done.
(I’m not sure that heaven and hell should be capitalized in this context.)
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Thanks Patrick. I deliberately capitalized ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’ because I wanted it work for both ‘soles’ and ‘souls’. The story was also meant to read as if it was written by a shoe.
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Giving the shoe a tongue, so to speak. lovely.
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Loved the ending and the matter-of-fact tone of the letter which somehow intensifies the feelings it is trying to downplay.
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Thank you. I wanted the letter to read as if it was from one shoe to another and the human relationship aspect as a backdrop.
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Good riddance to the ex by the sound of it, after all the nasty things they said. I liked the letter/poem format, and clever title 🙂
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Thanks Ali. Luckily for humans we can get rid of a nasty ex and find another matching fit . Shoes are not so lucky : One shoes loses the meaning of it’s existence without the other.
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A nasty attack of “grass is greener” syndrome.
Good piece.
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Thanks Mick.
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Great title. I want to know more though!
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Thanks …I wanted to write more too and maybe would have if not for that word count limit.
One closing option:
“Looks like you are a ‘nothing’ without me by your side too. ”
Second was to continue and add to the above:
“We can still be something together.
You and me.
Want to come back? ”
But the main theme of the story is the sense of mutual loss – not forgiveness or vindictiveness and I didn’t want to add anything that would take away from that.
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They’re all really good options.
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Beautifully written !!! Very Insightful 🙂
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Thank you Mersha.
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Deep emotions clearly stated.
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Thank you.
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i wonder if they found him wearing woman’s shoes. that would explain it.
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I didn’t say that it was a ‘he’ who was found in the gutter , did I ? Interesting how the nasty person is assumed to be male 🙂
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Oh.. I think sometimes that is an end for those that are searching for new pastures…
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Sometimes they don’t even know they are in a gutter …or are too proud to admit it.
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Interesting, so who was truly holding who back? Or safe?
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some people don’t understand that ‘holding back’ sometimes means ‘keeping safe’
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That’ll teach him (or her). I like how you’ve structured this and I like the voice.
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Thanks Margaret.
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An interesting take on the prompt! Quite a lot of sadness and bitterness in there. A fitting end.
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Thanks Vijaya.
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Wow…and I was waiting for the cue…on how you will relate it to the prompt. loved it…
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Thank you Shaktiki.
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somehow i loved the story
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Thank you.
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There’s a peg-legged woman somewhere who only needs one shoe. Don’t know if it’s a left or right foot that needs shod. If you hurry, you can still catch her. She doesn’t move too fast.
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Is she wearing a moo-moo? 🙂
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Dear Ansumani,
I love the play on words withe sole and soul. He certainly was ‘going places’ wasn’t he. The gutter’s a place. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you Rochelle. He was certainly ‘going places’ 🙂
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What a good thing they split up when they did!
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Maybe if he hadn’t split he would have been safe.
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This was wonderful. I got the separation between soul and sole and it gave me a good chuckle. And seen from the other side, it made me sad (but the chuckle won.) What a creative idea, too.
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Thanks Gah. Good that this made you chuckle inspite of the sad undertone 🙂
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Loved the play on words. So often one thinks the other is holding him/her back when, with a little sharing, might find a partner for life!
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I liked the style and the tone.
Clever and well done.
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The story has sole
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Really makes me wonder what happened to the person who thought he/she was so superior. Really well done!
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I always enjoy an interesting perspective.
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Well, I guess that was a wrong decision. Great twist at the end. — Suzanne
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