11Based off of something I saw on Facebook. If your heart is easily broken, tread carefully.
Silence permeated the dining room as I set a plate of food before Yellow. Being married six years, we had gotten used to having dinner together, and often looked forward to it.
I wasn't looking forward to it tonight, of all nights.
My mouth didn't know how to say what I wanted to say. I played with my brussel sprouts as Yellow speared her meat, not bothering to make eye contact with me. Her olive eyes were dulled, and didn't shine like they used to. Her solemn expression did little to ease the tension, either.
"Yellow? I have something I have to say."
She didn't respond, save for a grimace that lasted all for one-thousandth of a second.
My fist clenched, and I gulped nervously. "I want a divorce."
She dropped her knife, where it landed with a soft thud on the carpet. Looking up back at me, her face was filled to the brim with emotion; sadness, grief, anger, but mostly, wondering. "W-why?"
I felt forced to dodge her question, which I did. Her face flared in rage, and throwing her fork at me, which missed and went through the wall, she stomped off upstairs. "You call yourself a man, Red?!"
That night, with a heart and mind heavied with guilt, I drafted our divorce statement. She was able to keep the house, our car (which we almost never used), all of her money and a quarter of my money made through running the League. I could hear her weeping all the way upstairs, and it only served to make me angrier. I don't know what happened to our marriage, and I couldn't come up with an answer that was easy to understand. I just couldn't tell her that I didn't love her anymore! In fact, I pitied her more than anything, that, and I had fallen for Sabrina, with her beauty and powerful aura of authority and strength.
I showed the draft to her, and she balled it up and threw it at my face. The woman I had said 'I do' six years ago to had become nothing but a stranger. I wished I could take back some of the resources I had spent on her, so that I could give them to Sabrina, whom I loved now. Yellow began to bawl loudly, which provided my mind a release, and that moment on, the idea of divorce had become a mindset, and a goal.
I came home very late the next night, and not wanting dinner, went straight to bed. Yellow was busy writing something frantically at the table, and I didn't care, honestly. Sabrina and I had too much fun together, anyway.
I woke up to find her still writing. Still not caring, also, I flopped over and fell asleep again.
She gave me her divorce conditions the next day. She wanted us to be as much of a normal family as possible, and to have one month before the divorce. She also wanted to keep these negative emotions away from our daughter, Amber, who was graduating kindergarten in five weeks. The last thing we needed was to have our shattering marriage wear her innocence away.
"Very agreeable." I had told her, but she wanted one more thing. She recalled how I carried her out of the church in Hearthome City when we were married, and asked that I carry her to the front door every day before she went to work. It was extremely odd, but it wouldn't hurt to make our last days together bearable.
I told Sabrina about what Yellow requested. She had spit out her wine, guffawing loudly. "No matter what, she's going to have to face the divorce somehow! Persistent little brat, isn't she?" Sabrina remarked with scorn.
It was the first day, and since Yellow and I hadn't had any physical contact since the divorce idea came into my head, so we were quite laughably clumsy at first. Amber, who had just woken up, followed behind us, clapping. "Daddy's carrying mommy!" She laughed. Her words stung.
It took a few minutes, but we eventually came to the front door, which I opened with some difficulty. Yellow suddenly shifted. "Don't tell her. Please."
I nodded, ignoring the strange look our overweight neighbour who was watering his lawn gave us. "Of course." Setting her down, she waved good-bye as she walked to her job at a florist, just barely five minutes into town.
The second day was much easier, and both of us got into the groove much better. She was leaning on my chest as I caught whiff of her beautiful perfume. I looked down, and realised that Yellow's youth had been slipping away. Her blonde hair was dull and greying, and wrinkles were beginning to appear on her face. Was it I who had done this?!
On the fourth day, the sense of intimacy that had been wondering in the dark for so long had sojourned back to me. Yellow…she was the one that had given me six years of her life to me, only to get this in return.
On the sixth and seventh day, I realised the intimacy had begun to sprout up again. I couldn't tell Sabrina about this, absolutely not. As the month went by, she became easier and easier to lift and carry. Was I the one getting stronger?
One morning, she was selecting something to wear. She had tried on at least six dresses, but couldn't find one that fit her perfectly. "They've grown bigger…" She sighed.
It hit me. She had become so thin that it had become easier to lift her, and had swallowed so much bitterness and pain. It wasn't me getting stronger, she was getting weaker. Without even thinking, I pulled her close.
Suddenly, Amber came in the room with the grace of a dizzy tyrantrum, scaring us both. "Daddy, it's time to carry mommy out." She informed me. For her, me carrying Yellow had become something that happened every day. Yellow gestured Amber to her, hugging her tight. I refused to look, afraid I might change my mind. Yellow had found a sweatshirt and jeans that fit her, and I picked her up to begin the journey downstairs. Her hand found my heart, and I felt myself kissing her neck lightly. It was just like our wedding day, save for the casual clothes.
Her lighted weight filled my heart with sorrow, and I couldn't move once I reached the front door. Amber had left to get on the bus, and we were alone. Tears began to fall, and Yellow stirred. "What's wrong, honey?"
"I understand, now. We lacked intimacy, and understanding. The little things didn't matter, anymore." I managed to say. Without even thinking, I rushed back upstairs, set down her protesting form, and raced back out the door, saying I would be back.
I stopped at Sabrina's apartment first. She came to the door before I even knocked.
"Red, what a nice sur-"
"Sabrina, I'm not divorcing Yellow."
She gave me a stupefied look. "What? Red, are you drunk or something?"
"No, Sabrina. I realised that we were forgetting the little details in life, and that our lack of intimacy, it wasn't that we didn't love each other, anymore. And you want to know something else? I'm glad she made me carry her, because it made me realise that I'm going to carry her until death do us part, because that's the promise I made on the altar!"
Sabrina was shocked, and her eyes quickly welled with tears. "Y-you asshole!" She snarled, slapping me across the face and slamming the door.
I ran back into town, finding the florist Yellow worked at. I ordered a bouquet of roses and lilies for Yellow. The clerk asked me to write something on the card. I wrote, 'I'll carry you until death separates us, Yellow. I'll never stop loving you.'
I ran home as quick as I could, opened the door, and ran up the stairs with a giddy smile on my face. "Yellow! Please, forgive me, I l-"
I stopped when I entered the bedroom. She was lying limply on the bed, her head hanging over the side.
"Yellow, please, wake up."
She didn't stir.
"Yellow…?
I rolled her over, and it hit me.
"Yellow?! YELLOW!"
Cancer. She been fighting cancer, all the while I was trying to get a divorce, and she didn't tell me?! I understand now that she wanted to make our last moments good ones, and to shield Amber from the divorce, if it went through. At least, now, I can be a decent father to Amber…
A week after the funeral, I was sitting on the couch, holding Amber in my lap.
"Where's mommy?"
I sighed. Not this again. "She died, honey."
"Why did she die, daddy?"
"She was very, very sick."
Amber gave me a quizzical expression. "But…I thought you cured her, daddy…"
The tears came uninhibited. "I…I think I cured her pain, but not her sickness, sweetie…"
Amber lost the fight with sorrow, too. "I want mommy back!"
I pulled her close, letting her rest in my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Yellow…I'm so, so sorry…"
Even if you aren't married, this can be a good lesson to you. Things and material possessions don't matter, they merely conduct the happiness made by the little things. Intimacy is a beautiful thing, too, and don't let it go to waste. Don't just be a lover to your spouse, be their best friend, too.
