And Then: A Microfiction

She stood by the window, peering from behind the drapes. She knew that the street would be nearly silent, with only those on the graveyard shift and sneaky teenagers coming back to their homes.

The night sky was clear, the wind was barely a whisper.

She remembered the summer her parents took her to Disney, and the week after when they completely ignored her. She remembered her first dog who had long been gone. She remembered not making friends for months at school. She remembered the first boy she liked.

She remembered how he had asked her out to a movie. She remembered how he had never shown up. She remembered the school laughing at her for believing that he would have ever liked her back. She remembered being in the corner of the school dance, watching everyone else have fun. She remembered feeling like she had been screaming for hours, and no one heard her.

She remembered the tears welling in her eyes. She remembered downing the entire bottle of her mom's Trazadone. She remembered surrounding herself with her covers. She remembered drifting to sleep. She remembered the weight lifting.

And then…