FINAL INSTALLMENT
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“I’m not sure if things will stay the same, Lar. I’m five years older since last night.”
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She walked slowly towards the curb, away from him, minding the cracks in the pavement. “Step on the cracks and the devil will come and get you” her father used to tell her when she was a little girl.
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She started counting just as she did then, when she was trying to drown the arguing voices of her mom and dad as they walk out of the church, in the middle of the mass.
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“One.”
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She looked at the ring on her finger. She removed it and read the word wrapped around an engraved heart in the inner side. YOURS.
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She let the ring slip off her fingers; it rolled across the cracks on the pavement just as her tears rolled down her cheeks.
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\’93Two.\’94
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She took a blurry step forward, crossing the path of a speeding delivery van. All she felt was a dull thud, as everything around her erupted in screeching tires and shrieking voices.
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She looked towards the corner where she left Larry, as darkness descended and enveloped her in an unnatural peace.
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\’93Three…\’94