I wonder how cold the water would be if I accidentally push her overboard…
Her gold scarf whips around her face in the wind as I watch her lean against the rail and peer down into the blackness of the water. She is completely hypnotized by the cresting white foam that trails alongside the ship as it barrels its way to the next port.
How much would it hurt when she hits the water? Would death be instant? Would her screams go unheard?
These aren’t supposed to be the thoughts of a formerly happy husband on a Christmas anniversary cruise vacation.
But they are.
I’m tired of her hollow commitments and the talk of “The Baby” to mask the lies she’s been spinning. I’m tired of working to exist and existing to work because she’s taken away everything worthwhile in my life and bled my bank accounts dry. Most of all, I’m tired of pretending that I can make things work with a baby she doesn’t realize that I know is not mine.
A man can only take so much of an evil woman but I still hate myself for having gruesome thoughts of her drowning in the middle of nowhere.
There are only four days before this cruise ends and we go home. Four more days before I tell her that this charade is over.
She turns to me with a blank expression as if she’s been reading my thoughts. Suddenly, four days feels like an eternity and I can’t hold myself back.
“I can’t do this anymore. We’re done,” I blurt out. “I can’t stand the sight of you.”
She says nothing for a minute and then says,“God knows I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to take it that far…”
But then a smile spreads across her thin red lips.
“Then again, maybe I haven’t taken it far enough,” she whispers.
She turns her back to me, takes a deep breath, throws a leg over the rail and vanishes into the dark.
I don’t move.
I can’t move.
What is happening?
All I remember is the ocean air taking hold of my wife’s gold scarf and gently placing it at my feet.
Marquessa 
Odd, she doesn’t seem the kind of person to commit a selfless act. But then again it isn’t selfless when she’s carrying a baby is it.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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It started off with him pushing her. Then I wondered how bizarre it would be if she was disturbed enough to do it herself and people think he did it…🤔
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Yes, I’m sure suspicion will fall on him. Would he be arrested and convicted because he was there or would he be allowed to go free because there was no evidence to gainsay him? I’d have to hope the latter.
xxx Nadolig Llawen xxx
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If she left a note behind incriminating him (somehow) could be the ultimate revenge. Dead (wo)men can’t talk and he’d have some explaining to do…🤔
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A very good post. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks Henrietta! I love your name. It reminds me of a character back in the 70s on Another World!
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You are welcome! Thanks!
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Wow! Good one.
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Thanks. Trying something different. Flash fiction/non-romantic fiction is not my forté but I can at least try…
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You do a beautiful job of setting a vivid scene and giving us a glimpse into his inner world while also fascinating us with the plot in such few words. Well done.
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It was interesting to write though I started it as him actually pushing her overboard to her doing it herself…just to be weird!😆
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Too short I think… We don’t have enough time to feel for the characters… But that’s just my two cents 🙂
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Thanks for the feedback Noémie. Your feedback is great. I’m trying to do more flash fiction / non-love for a change of pace. 😊
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I think your forte is internal monologue, how you get us to be in the character shoes and feel what is going on their heads… Here I find I didn’t have enough time to be gripped by them and their stories… But I like the weirdness of the atmosphere, a real Titanic anti climax 😀
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Yes, I love trying to think like the character, especially Ella…she’s a fun one to take liberties with! Good flash fiction gives you so much and I ‘d love to master it.
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Hey there Old Sport! I’m K&L, the Author, Publisher & CEO of The Millionaire’s Digest, I just want to apologize for not being able to publish all the articles fast enough on The Millionaire’s Digest. Believe me, when you’re in college and you’re up past midight writing papers every night, you know how hard it can be to also run a team of more than 300+ people who are constantly uploading posts every day. That brings me to my next point Old Sport.
I would just like to ask you before I get ready to have our magazine published if you would still like to be in it. I mean, I mean, I don’t want you to feel like I’m forcing you to do this because I know I wouldn’t like it if someone made me do something I didn’t want to do either. But I mean, I just wanted to make sure because you are one of my team members, and I just didn’t want you to feel left out when you see it go live in all the stores!
Also, please know that if you do choose to do this, you do this for yourself, not me. I do perfectly fine for an individual, as you know that I could’ve launched this myself and not let anyone on it. But I’m not that type of person (Nor will I ever will be). This is just something that I want to be able let you guys do, so I can help you get more exposure to your blog!
Sincerely,
K&L
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Wow, gripping Marquessq. Him leaving her base her depressed enough to end it. So dark and sad. Well written!
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Thanks Mandi! Trying to experiment with shorter darker pieces!🙄
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Oooh this was was was .. gooood.
I can’t believe she did it, especially when she is pregnant. Will you be writing the next part to it?
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I’m thinking of doing a rewrite and adding on a few follow-ups during the A to Z challenge in April to show just how evil she was…:)
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Oooh sounds good .
She’s dead now right ?
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Lol! Maybe?😊
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Ohhh, sorry that his thoughts played out infront of him. Glad he did not do it himself
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Or was it all a dream like in “Lost”…😆
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Woah!
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☺
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That was terrifying. For a second, I thought she was going to push him overboard. All of her “misbehavior” could well have been driven by depression and not maliciousness.
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Thank you for that James. You are one of the few that caught the possible depression/odd behaviour connection.
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As others mentioned, it wouldn’t make sense for most women to commit suicide while pregnant unless there was something else going on.
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Oh wow, I was expecting her to do something else like charge at him screaming. This was good, but sad.
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☺
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So I was going to call her a conniving little…. but then a previous comment about depression made me reconsider. Now I hurt for her, because her husband couldn’t see that she was screaming for help. This truly is a sad couple. Great story though! That ending got me. I wasn’t expecting that at all!
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Thanks for that! The story could go either way – conniving or depression. Who knows?
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