Short Stories + Contest Entries

Without Air

It's about to happen again. The absolute confinement of water. He says I'm pitiful, a mistake. That my mind doesn't belong to me and my insanity has consumed me entirely. The delusions of being a woman, that's what he calls it. He suffocates me with his countless plagues; his vanity, his lies, his coldness, infidelity, jealousy, rage. But this time it's much worse, I'm sure of it. I've put his name in danger. I've spat on every rule and command. I've threatened his false perfection and now he wants me to pay.

There was a time when I thought the smiles we shared were true and each rose I held was picked especially for me, but the fragrance of the roses faded away when we married, and the last of the petals withered up and died when I demanded a divorce. It was constantly nagging my mind, eating away all thoughts. I longed to be free of him. Our love was a myth, and I knew his desire for me washed away when I rebelled against his reins...

He paces slowly. Confidently. Waiting for my words to spill. His arms crossed and his eyes closed but the rhythm of my heart falters. What I have to say next will rip him to shreds, and I know I may be meeting my end.

"I do not feel happy." My teeth bite into my lips. "Do you?"

He stands still and locks eyes with mine, appraising me.

Cracking a menacing grin, he steps forward. "Yes, of course, I do." He holds my face between his palms. "I have wealth. I have power. I have prestige." He strokes my cheek. "And I have you, my beautiful wife."

His grandiosity sickens me to the core. I withdraw from his touch. "Your possessions do not make me happy. You... do not make me happy. You treat me like a commodity. Like a property. I do not wish to live like this any longer."

His face is wooden as he clenches his jaws. "Go rest, my darling, I'm afraid you look to be unsound lately."

"I have been unsound for abiding all those years." My voice wavers, but I must continue. I must end this.

"You are wasting my valuable time, darling, I shall be late for work." He turns and walks to the door. But I cannot surrender. I must say it now. It takes all my might to stand my ground.

"I wish to divorce you." Once it's out, my chest feels lighter. Air fills my lungs. I can breathe again. Yes. I want to break free from him once and for all. I want this divorce more than I can describe.

He stops midway to the exit. He turns to face me, his eyes transformed, burning with fury. His whole face alters into something else. Something ferocious and barbaric. The mask of calmness is long gone. This is the monster hiding inside. The beast I've married and suffered for five years.

I inhale more air. "I spoke with the minister about it. I told him everything. I told him you have been unfaithful, blasphemous. That you committed adultery and heresy and that I wish our marriage to be no more."

"How dare you!" He growled and strode back to wrench my arms, shaking my body. "How dare you tarnish my name after all I have done for you? After all the love I have given you? You ungrateful woman!"

He slaps me and I fall to the ground. He hauls me up by the hair. "Speak, now! Who instigated you? Who do you meet behind my back? Another man? A lover? One of my enemies? Speak now, harlot!"

"No one!" I cry, writhing in his grasp.

"Liar!" He throws me back to the floor. My hair spills to my face and I blink back salt from my eyes. His venom spits at me as my body turns to ice. But I know the truth. He is the liar. He is an adulterer. He accuses me of committing his own sins. But now I've committed the ultimate defiance, and there's no turning back. I must face my destiny. The destiny I have been wishing to fulfill.