Exceptional at the end of a marriage The Silent End by BermyBye50      Lost - Flash Fiction Contest Winner

The house was quiet now. Too quiet. Henry sat on the edge of the couch, staring at the blank television screen, its surface reflecting a hollow version of himself. The divorce papers lay neatly on the coffee table, finalized weeks ago. A "no-fault" divorce, a clean break, a polite term for a gaping wound that refused to heal. He felt like a sailor stranded in an endless fog, his compass spinning wildly with no true north to guide him. The sudden end of his marriage had left him adrift, untethered from the life he thought he knew. Each day he felt as though he was walking through the ruins of a dream that had vanished without warning. The silence throughout the house was suffocating, a constant reminder of her absence. He searched his memories for answers, finding only faint echoes of what had been. He rubbed his wedding band, still sitting stubbornly on his finger. Habit, he told himself. Or maybe denial. She hadn’t asked him to remove it when she left. Then again, she hadn’t asked for much—just her freedom. There had been no fiery argument, unveiled betrayal, or seismic event to topple their seventeen years together. Just a quiet, creeping distance. Her bags were packed with the same precision she brought to everything. He’d watched, frozen, as she walked out the door, her silence louder than any goodbye. He had wanted to ask why, but the words stuck in his throat like barbed wire. What reason could he give himself for the end of something he thought was solid, although imperfect? The days stretched into a blur of routines. The coffee he brewed tasted bitter without her laugh across the table. Their bed, now too big, became an ocean of space he couldn’t navigate. Friends asked if he was okay, their concern both shallow and perfunctory. He always nodded. It was easier than trying to explain what he couldn’t name. One night, he found himself in the attic, rifling through boxes they hadn’t touched in years. His hands trembled as he opened one labeled Memories. Inside were photos from vacations, anniversary cards, and her handwritten letters that had once made him feel loved. "You are my compass," one note read. He traced the words with his finger, feeling their weight more than ever. A compass. Wasn’t that supposed to help you find your way? So why was he now lost? He thought of calling her, of asking the question he’d been too afraid to voice: What happened to us? But even if she answered, would it matter? The life they’d built was gone, dissolved like sugar in water. Sitting in the attic, surrounded by fragments of their marriage now out of reach, Henry realized he wasn’t just mourning the loss of her. He was mourning the loss of himself, the version of him that had existed when he was hers. And for the first time, he wondered if he could find his way back without her. Writing Prompt Write a flash fiction story under 500 words about being lost Lost - Flash Fiction Contest Winner Author Notes This story is a fictional version of the sense of being lost following the end of my marriage having never given a reason for the end of his marriage following a no-fault divorce.

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