Little Things. #wattys2017

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              O B L I V I O N

"The key to being happy is knowing you have the power to choose what to accept and what to let go." ~ Dodinsky.

                                 ***
"Josh! Please you don't understand. The kids are watching." She trembled as her husband held her petite shoulders with his eyes filled with rage.

"Really? That's all you're concerned about now? That's all you worry about? The kids watching?" He screamed.

"Kids, look at what your bastard of a father is doing!" She shrieked as she felt his pointy fingers now digging into her waist with hatred.

"Hell with you Cheryl. I bring up anything with the business and you give me this!"

"Josh, You're hurting me! Let go!" She cried in his tight grip.

"Answer me, god damn it!"

"I just don't like it! I wish there was something else we could talk about! But there isn't. Ever since we made our first million, our life isn't the same anymore. We aren't the same anymore Josh. More than our adventures, we end up arguing about money. We don't live!" She yelped as his grip became tighter.

"Oh Cheryl. I'm so sick of you and your adventures! We were kids then, now we have other priorities!"

"But that's not what my definition of happiness is Josh." She sighed. "This is not my happiness."

"What do you mean?" His voice cracked. His grip becoming weak as his racing thoughts dominated him.

"I guess we are not the same. I guess we were not meant to be. Maybe you were just another experience in my life that I got carried away with." She started rambling, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.

"Sweetie... No...No... You are not saying this right now. We are supposed to be together. Don't Cheryl. What about the kids?" His voice lined with something their six year old  kids had never heard in his voice before. Fear.

"I'm sorry. But I have to get out of here. We cannot go on fighting like this. This isn't what I want." She managed to escape from his tight grip as she started her frantic packing.

"Cheryl... please don't leave. The solution is not by running away, my dear." He wiped away the tears that now cascaded down his face.

"I'm not running away Josh. I am living. For us. For the kids. I am moving on. To find my happiness." She smiled weakly at him.

"And you want to run. Always." He whispered. His blue eyes becoming blurry with his tears.

"I want to run. And never stop." She smiled, her cheeks glistening with her fresh tears. "Because happiness isn't here. In this hellhole. This city. Any city."

"I am guessing that you are taking the kids away from me." he sighed, his breath shaky. He inhaled a sharp breath.

"Yes. I cannot let their minds get polluted by the city." She huffed, as she continued to pack the bags with her salty eyes.

"Cheryl. They will need me." He cried. "I need them."

"I'm so sorry Josh." She kissed her husband softly. "But we have to go."

"Come on kids. Let's go." she sighed as she picked up the bags and pulled her daughter out with her. "Son, come fast."

              He walked slowly out of his big city house. Uncertain. Unsure. But he trusted his mother. He knew that the ship was sinking. He knew it would happen some day. But not now. Not so soon. Not in this very hour. He knew that it was probably right to run away, far away, from all this now, than later. But he was scared. He was a child.