10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love

I love you

OK folks! The final "chapter" of 10 Reasons not to Fall in Love! Thank you for coming this far, and I hope to see you guys again, this time reading my other story, The Indentured Mistress of a 'Human'.

-XIII

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            Liz looked at the still waters through the gaps in the wood around her with empty eyes. The black depths reflected a miserable girl’s face, marked up with tear trails. She closed her eyes, inviting the numb blackness.

            Liz opened her eyes again, and this time, she was standing on a dimly lit street. The crickets of summer chirped to one another, but other than that, the place was lifeless. The hot air hung like a blanket, without a single breeze to relieve the choking sensation that choked her. This again. The dream.

            A sweating man carrying a large suitcase strolled past her and looked up. He had bright eyes full of excitement, arrogance, and optimism.

            “Did you know?” Kevin smiled despite his fatigue. “I’m going off with my new wife! Life’s going to be smooth sailing from now on.”

            Maybe for you. But what about us? Liz thought angrily.

            “Daddy!” a little girl with her brown hair in twin tails with sweat gathering on her forehead shrieked as she flung open a door of a dark house. “Wait! What do you mean you’re leaving for Florida?! When are you coming back?”

            The girl stumbled when she caught up with Kevin, panting and looking at him. Her knees shook and her lips quivered as she searched for the answer in his eyes.

            “Oh, Liz,” Kevin sighed. “Go back and comfort Mommy, okay? I don’t have time for this. The plane’s leaving soon and I need to catch a bus.”

            “It’s that weird woman, right?” the girl demanded, tears beginning to trickle down her pale face. “The one that you said not to tell Mommy about?”

            “No, sweety, I’m just going on a small business trip,” Kevin smiled gently. “I won’t be back for a while, but I’ll be back.”

            “You can’t! You’re married to Mommy!” the girl cried desperately, seeing right through the façade.

            Kevin sighed deeply, propped up the suitcase, and knelt down beside the sniffling child. “Liz, do you trust me?”

            “Usually,” Liz muttered.

            “Have I ever lied to you?”

            “…no.”

            “Then believe in me, okay?”

            The girl wiped her eyes. “Okay.”

            Don’t. He’s lying. Stop him!

            “Bye bye,” Kevin murmured, kissing his daughter on the forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”

            “How soon? By my birthday?”

            “By your eleventh birthday.”

            “But you’ll miss the tenth one!”

            “I’m sorry, but this is really important.”