Short Story: Untitled

For the past seven months the covers had been made up perfectly on his side of the bed. Nothing remaining on his nightstand apart from the grey box she had received from his buddy in the Navy. After a long day at work she kicks off her shoes, lays on her side of the bed and thinks about the future they had planned together and can't help but wonder why he had chosen to cut their time short without leaving some sort of explanation.

Maybe the box holds all of the answers? Why he did what he did, why he didn't know that she wanted to help, why he didn't tell her why he left her the box at all. There's nothing she wants more then to open the box and know what could possibly be inside when all the outside says is "To My Love". Every time she runs her fingers over those letters she can't help but wonder whether or not he had really loved her. If he had, how could he leave her like this? Everyone reminds her just how much he had loved her, but she can't help but wonder why her love wasn't enough for him. If it wasn't enough for him, how could it be enough for anyone else?

Nearly jumping out of her skin from hearing the sound of the doorbell, she rushes to see who could be at the door. She slams the door open to find her mother and father-in-law standing in front of her, hand in hand, tears rolling down their faces. Without exchanging words she knows exactly why they're here. They are just as desperate to know what their only son might've left behind, hoping there may be some sort of explanation or reason inside that box. Not that it will bring him back or make this any easier, but maybe there is some sort of closure that they all need.

She leads them to the couch in the living room and leaves them there while she heads to her bedroom. Standing over the box she can't help but reminisce over all of her favorite memories and shed just a few more tears. Here, she decides that today is the day she will look back on and remember it as the day everything changed. The day she got the closure she deserves and can finally start to move forward in her life. She wipes the tears off her cheeks, picks up the box and heads out to the living room to open the box and start the life she know he would want her to live.