Loose ends

The wind howled through the bare branches of the trees, stripping away the last of the autumn leaves.

In the darkness of her room, she stared at the old shoebox resting on her lap.

With trembling hands, she slid the lid aside, revealing a jumble of objects she once treasured: a worn scarf, a pair of movie tickets, a faded photograph.

Memories of a past life that now seemed as distant as the stars in the night sky.

-I hid you in dreams and memories, -she murmured to herself, caressing the only remaining image of him.

For a long time, she had tried to make sense of the loose ends, the missing pieces of the puzzle that was their relationship. But he no longer dreamed of discovering those answers.

He would be a prisoner of his own punishment, trapped in the limbo of the ghosts of the past.

With a sigh, he put the photograph aside. A new light shone in his eyes, a spark of hope reborn as he freed himself from the stubble of that withered love.

One by one, she removed the objects from the box, banishing the memories to oblivion. The scarf, symbol of so many shared embraces, was now nothing more than a worthless rag.

The cinema tickets evoked muffled laughter that no longer resonated. All vestiges of him slowly faded into the gloom.

-I forgave you by telling you everything I feel, -he whispered, his voice imbued with a serene calm. She had packed that feeling in a bag some time ago, ridding herself of the ballast that bound her to a past with no future.

When the last piece fell out of the box, she closed it with a thud, sealing those memories in the shadows. There was no more room for tears or loneliness.

With one last glance at the box, he slid it under the bed, burying ghosts that no longer had a place in his new life. The mystery of what had once been had been solved.

He was now just another disagreement, a shadow fading into oblivion, just ashes of what was once his body, buried in the woods after he had been murdered.