A Clearing

Photo Courtesy of Blog 57 La fotografia di Ago Resta

Matty and Cole met at Octoberfest- a town-wide exhale with music spilling from every corner and steins clinking under strings of amber lights- Matty was standing at the edge of her vintage vinyl display nervously adjusting an album that refused to sit straight, while across the square Cole’s band was finishing their set- the last notes drifting into the crisp autumn air.

Their eyes met across the crowd- a glance at first, then a smile- and before they knew it, the night was over- they’d been trading stories over bratwurst and spilled lager- telling each other things they had never dared say aloud before.

They never left each other’s side in the months that followed- there was just something so easy, so quietly perfect about their coupling- and while it should have brought Matty the kind of joy she once imagined only belonged to others, she knew there was still this one hard truth folded tight inside her chest like a letter she hadn’t dared send- something that could ruin everything they were building together.

She hadn’t planned on bringing it up it that night, and would have preferred a gentler presentation- and maybe less lager- if she had, but something in the warmth of his gaze or the way his hand brushed hers gave her courage and suddenly there it was- “Cole, what would you say if I told you I wasn’t a breeder, I mean, like I can’t ever have any kids?”

He looked at her with such steadiness, not shock or disappointment or any of the things she feared, just this fullness of contentment and said, “I didn’t fall in love with you because I was looking for a lineage, Matty- love’s not a bloodline, or a legacy- I love you for who you are and what I know we can become together.”

From that night forward, they held each other tighter- because together they understood-  for them a future without a child wasn’t a void- it was a clearing- and in that space, they had planted something equally as sacred.

Photo Courtesy of Blog 57 La fotografia di Ago Resta

This is my contribution to this week’s Six Sentence Story where the prompt word this week was: Breed

53 thoughts on “A Clearing”

  21. damn!

    sure, engaging characters and intriguing story then the final line:

    “…for them a future without a child wasn’t a void- it was a clearing- and in that space, they had planted something equally as sacred.“

    (I repeat) damn!

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  22. Right? We’re so conditioned in this society to see children as the be all an end all. The truth is, the minute you have one, your life as you know it as over, and it becomes all about them. What about just enjoying life for yourself? There’s nothing wrong with that. Honestly, we don’t really need more people in this world.

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