I blurt out the wrong thing to you, again, and see the pain on your face. I yearn to leap into the future, after lots of distractions have piled up high in front of my ill-timed comment, so it won’t be posing there like a fiery, red behemoth glaring back at me. I know what I said makes you want to run away, screaming, “You really screwed it up this time.” Which I totally get, but how about you consider a clean slate, turn the page, and let bygones be bygones? Think about it while I tape my mouth shut.
Suzanne C Martinez’ fiction has appeared in North American Review, Wigleaf, Vestal Review, Citron Review, Gone Lawn, and others. She lives in Brooklyn. www.scmwrites.com Bluesky: @scmart.bsky.social Facebook: @scm1441 Instagram: @s.martinez1441 X: @SuzanneCMartin3