I'm Only Second Best
The December morning began with a soft glow of morning light, peaking out through snow clouds, desperately trying to shine for attention. Flecks of white powder sprinkled across the horizon, already coating lights, reindeer, and Santas, all set for display, all clearly seen from the little front window. The room was filled with the aroma of chocolate chip cookies, freshly out of the oven. The front room was warmly decorated with soft beige walls, a wreath on the front door, the blue and silver Christmas tree, bathed in white lights, in the back-right corner beside the window, the television on the left side of it. The black coffee table in the middle of the room was covered in glitter and little pieces of white paper, left by a little girl too excited to clean after her night of Christmas card making. Linda took a deep breath, wanting this moment to be ingrained in her memory forever. A first Christmas with her little girl, Marissa, one without her rat-bastard of a cheating father, Glen. He just could never keep it in his pants, and she was just never enough. She’d never be enough for him. That’s why his stuff was thrown into the lawn, covered in mud, sludge, and whatever garbage she could draw up before she, a now single, 25-year-old woman, took Marissa, her little angel of five years, and left.
