Short Stories!

Goodbye

AN

This story made some of my friends cry while reading it. Just a heads up!

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"I'm sorry ma'am," the doctor tells me, "You have brain cancer."

"How long will I get to live?" I just got married! I can't leave now!

"As little as a month, and at most... three months. I am truly sorry I can't do more for you."

<~>

"Hey babe!" I call my wife over to me.

"Hey!"

"What's on your mind today?"

"Well, I was just thinking of a challenge."

"A challenge? What kind?"

"We have been married for two months now, right? Well, if you can go for 24 hours without communicating with me, then I will love you forever. That includes no texting or calling."

"You already said you would love me forever, remember? The wedding."

"Whatever!"

"Challenge accepted. I will just hang out with my mom then, I guess."

"Okay."

"I love you Lauren."

"I love you too. You better not forget that."

I smile as I walk out the door to go to my mother's house.

Twenty four hours of pure boredom later, I head back home to my wife.

"Hey babe! I did it!" I yell as I walk in the front door.

No response.

"Lauren?" I wander around the house looking for my girl.

I see a note on the fridge.

Come to my mom's house. See you there!

Lauren

As soon as I see the note, I leave to go to Lauren's house. There are people in black all around. I go inside and there is Lauren. Laying in a coffin. With a note.

I knew you could do it babe. Now just do it forever more. I love you!

"Jack? That you?"

I turn around with tears forming in my eyes. "Yeah."

"Did you know about this? Was she acting strange at all?"

"N- no. Yesterday she told me to go 24 hours without talking to her. A sort of challenge, I guess. I went to my mom's house and stayed the night. When I came back, there was a note on the fridge that said to come here. She was only complaining of her head hurting."

"Jack... she had brain cancer. Did she not tell you?"

"No."

"Well, you knew her better than most people here. Would you like to make a speech?"

"I'll try, I guess."

"Okay. Come over here. Okay everyone. You all know Jack here. He would like to make a speech."

All eyes turn towards me. I walk over to Lauren. She looks like she is just sleeping. An eternal slumber.

"Darling, open your eyes. You were not made up of those words that hurt you in school. Or that number on the scale. Or the expectations you feel you never got to meet. You were made up of nothing more than you. Simply, beautiful, wonderfully, uniquely you. You were a lovely and complex soul. An individually fascinating combination of thoughts, ideas, feelings, and emotions. No other is as beautiful as you were. You looked past the mirror. You looked at your soul. Only then did you see yourself as you truly were. Beautiful. So open your eyes, smile, and don't forget to love yourself. I will always love you."

The room swims in my vision. The air becomes stale. Everything becomes blurry and darkens just slightly. My knees buckle beneath me. I break down crying, sitting on the oak floor, as the realization comes to me. I will never see Lauren again. My dear Lauren.