Tethered

The song I wrote this to is absolutely beautiful. It's Tethered by Sleeping At Last. I was listening to this late last night, I just couldn't stop writing to it. There are a lot of meaningful lyrics in it. 

290 words.

Tethered

            It was a simple piece of cord. The fraying silk had finally torn after nearly five years. After all that time, her wrist felt naked, no longer holding that murmured promise from high school. That should have been the omen.

            Keeping the string close, she saw it between the billfolds of her wallet. She itched to call, to ask if hers had fallen off too. But each time she stared at her number, she recalled the distance in her voice; the one word answers, followed by hurried excuses and good-byes.

            They were finally meeting to catch up; coffee in the mid-afternoon. At the outer table, she sat anxious, toying with the silk between her fingers. Seeing her approach, she stood. After speaking for several minutes, she placed the string on the table.

            “You still have that?”

            “It was a promise. Of course I do.”

            “We weren’t promising to marry each other or anything,” she  shrugged. Opening her mouth to respond, something changed as someone approached their table. They shared a kiss before she turned. “Ash, this is Nick.” Ash stared at them, taking it all in. Her mind raced with all the conclusions she could make about his crew-cut, preppy polo and khakis; the subtle hints of make-up and highlights on her. In moments she was on her feet and striding from the table.

            “Ash, what’s wrong?” Pausing, she half-turned.

            “Where is yours?”

            “I don’t know. I cut it off or something.” That was all she needed to hear. A hand caught her wrist, urging her to stop.

            “Ash, come on, it was stupid.” Nick lingered behind her.

            “It was for ideals. So we’d never lose ourselves. Obviously we aren’t tethered anymore.” Jerking her hand free, she didn’t look back.