the worst is over

the seconds took hours, each one torture as it counted down the moments standing between me and him. it had already been forever, how could it possibly feel like another eternity to go? i was starved for him, consumed with hunger and my taste buds calling his name. where is he? why isn't he here yet?

i'd long since grown tired of the distance, the anxiety, the constant missing him. our lives were punctuated by phone calls from across an ocean and the anticipation between each conversation. in those moments when our voices met, i would relax and close my eyes and pretend his words were coming from the other side of the bed, instead of the other side of the world. if i lay the phone down and squeezed my pillow, his t-shirt draped over it, to my chest i could almost convince myself that he really was here.

"what are you thinking about?" he'd whisper, his voice groggy and grainy, sure signs of weariness that kept me afraid. "you," i'd answer, trying to keep my voice from betraying my own weariness. his constant reassurances - i'll be home soon, baby - were never enough to quiet my fears.

i'd been missing him for months and today, finally, was the day he would come home to me. i'd be able to breathe again, be whole again, have my heart in one piece again. i felt like a child on christmas eve, completely unfocused on anything but the gift i'd soon receive. my eyes darted all over the place, looking for a sign of his arrival. i was shaking with anticipation, and it took every ounce of strength i could muster to not run and find him. he'd come to me, i knew, but the wait threatened to take my breath away.

with nothing to do but test my patience, i started to worry, as i always did. what if something had gone wrong? what if the storm had complicated things? what if he wasn't going to be here today because of something terrible that had happened?


and then there he was.

my control be damned, i dashed to the gate, weaving through the sea of people, my eyes refusing to leave his. in an instant, his arms were opened for me, and in the next, i was securely in them. he stood there, dressed in his fatigues and draped in me, while his fellow travelers paused to thank him for his service.

"i'm back, baby, it's over. it's you and me now, forever," he said, his lips on my ear, his arms full of me. and we kissed like kids, like we were 16 again, like we knew we never had to stop.


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i'm back in the indie ink challenge, with this week's prompt from katri (take a popular song and turn it into a short story) and my challenge going out to carrie. check them both out and join in the fun at indie ink!

the song i chose for this challenge is a few years old, but it wormed its way into my ear and i just had to go with it after starting and stopping with three others first. can you guess what it is? i'll give you a minute to think...







"the best of me" by the starting line