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Secrets that burn.
#WritcoStoryPrompt8
The picture in the frame held a lot of memories. Some good, some sad. Her tired eyes roamed over it one last time before she tossed it in the fire. It was time to start afresh.
As she watched the flames dance as the picture lit up she couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. She had held on to those lasting memories for nearly 25 years!
All the misguided guilt she carried with her. It's like the flames just magically released all the repressed guilt she felt as she watched the picture burn.
No more guilt. No more animosity. No more strings from the past holding her back. While it burned away she realized...she was finally free.
Free to relax. Free to just breathe normally. Free of anxiety and pain. She was free to live HER life again.
All those years wasted on misguided "truths". The secrets she was made to carry so no one else got hurt.
Why did she have to carry all the burdens herself for so long? What was really holding her back all this time?
Was it really just that old tethered photo? Or was it something much deeper, perhaps darker than anyone realized.
After all, she was the family secret keeper. The known informer for all and the "alls" keeper at the same time.
How is she always so composed and appears happy? How could she overcome so much suffering with a smile? Why does she keep torturing herself to save everyone else?
No one knows the true hurt shes experienced. No one knows how much she hurts or how much harder her days will be with every secret she keeps.
Why was this photo so significant? I wonder how many secrets were kept because of it.
The past is known as ones history. But how much history is depicted in a single photo now burned?
Did everyone feel the same as she did? Or was there much more to that particular picture. What else was she hiding?
The events..where they were..who they were...it all meant much more than just a photo...how do I get her to tell her secret? How do inquire without causing more pain? will the truth really set her free?
I wondered over the years how to ask her..comfort her when those dreaded anniversaries arrived but nothing seemed to entice her or make her happy...till she burned that one old photo.
I finally asked her...what was so significant about that photo you just burned?
She looked up with sadness in her eyes, yet a smile on her face and said..that was the last time I saw my father alive.
Then why did you burn it?
Her smile faded as she said, "it was a reminder of all the things that never worked out in my life."
I surely would of thought that would mean she didnt want to remember that day but perhaps the event she was attending that night would of had some sort of lingering good vibes.
I pressed on and asked what event that was she was attending when that particular photo was snapped.
Turns out it was a high school prom. Nothing special she said but the memories she held on to were of that last smile she saw on her father's face and the dread she carried knowing she'd never see it again.
She knew when she left that night she'd never see him again. Half hearted memories of a dance shed never have with him.
No one to walk her down the aisle or share her children's "first" with the greatest man she'd ever known.
The picture everyone loved so much cause her the greatest pain. The "what if's" that would haunt her for decades. The secrets she kept had become anxious burdens.
She'd never know another love greater than that of her father nor would she ever feel the security from another man that she felt with him.
So again I asked her, Why now? What made you not just get rid of the picture..but burn it?
Her answer was simple. The picture, his smell, feeling of his hugs were all trapped in memories..another secret to keep. Only it was her secret to keep this time.
No one could steal her memories, spread her secrets, nor could they deny he was the best man and father a child would ever know.
With the picture gone, she was finally free to just be herself again. Start over and be happy without the weight of her past holding her down.
She will always have her memories and they last much longer than pictures that can be destroyed, tampered with, or stolen.
The picture in the frame held a lot of memories. Some good, some sad. Her tired eyes roamed over it one last time before she tossed it in the fire. It was time to start afresh.
As she watched the flames dance as the picture lit up she couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. She had held on to those lasting memories for nearly 25 years!
All the misguided guilt she carried with her. It's like the flames just magically released all the repressed guilt she felt as she watched the picture burn.
No more guilt. No more animosity. No more strings from the past holding her back. While it burned away she realized...she was finally free.
Free to relax. Free to just breathe normally. Free of anxiety and pain. She was free to live HER life again.
All those years wasted on misguided "truths". The secrets she was made to carry so no one else got hurt.
Why did she have to carry all the burdens herself for so long? What was really holding her back all this time?
Was it really just that old tethered photo? Or was it something much deeper, perhaps darker than anyone realized.
After all, she was the family secret keeper. The known informer for all and the "alls" keeper at the same time.
How is she always so composed and appears happy? How could she overcome so much suffering with a smile? Why does she keep torturing herself to save everyone else?
No one knows the true hurt shes experienced. No one knows how much she hurts or how much harder her days will be with every secret she keeps.
Why was this photo so significant? I wonder how many secrets were kept because of it.
The past is known as ones history. But how much history is depicted in a single photo now burned?
Did everyone feel the same as she did? Or was there much more to that particular picture. What else was she hiding?
The events..where they were..who they were...it all meant much more than just a photo...how do I get her to tell her secret? How do inquire without causing more pain? will the truth really set her free?
I wondered over the years how to ask her..comfort her when those dreaded anniversaries arrived but nothing seemed to entice her or make her happy...till she burned that one old photo.
I finally asked her...what was so significant about that photo you just burned?
She looked up with sadness in her eyes, yet a smile on her face and said..that was the last time I saw my father alive.
Then why did you burn it?
Her smile faded as she said, "it was a reminder of all the things that never worked out in my life."
I surely would of thought that would mean she didnt want to remember that day but perhaps the event she was attending that night would of had some sort of lingering good vibes.
I pressed on and asked what event that was she was attending when that particular photo was snapped.
Turns out it was a high school prom. Nothing special she said but the memories she held on to were of that last smile she saw on her father's face and the dread she carried knowing she'd never see it again.
She knew when she left that night she'd never see him again. Half hearted memories of a dance shed never have with him.
No one to walk her down the aisle or share her children's "first" with the greatest man she'd ever known.
The picture everyone loved so much cause her the greatest pain. The "what if's" that would haunt her for decades. The secrets she kept had become anxious burdens.
She'd never know another love greater than that of her father nor would she ever feel the security from another man that she felt with him.
So again I asked her, Why now? What made you not just get rid of the picture..but burn it?
Her answer was simple. The picture, his smell, feeling of his hugs were all trapped in memories..another secret to keep. Only it was her secret to keep this time.
No one could steal her memories, spread her secrets, nor could they deny he was the best man and father a child would ever know.
With the picture gone, she was finally free to just be herself again. Start over and be happy without the weight of her past holding her down.
She will always have her memories and they last much longer than pictures that can be destroyed, tampered with, or stolen.
