This is my post for Friday Fictioneers and the A-Z Challenge, a hundred word story in response to the prompt and my entry for the letter I. For more stories click the frog and for more fun “I” stuff, check out the challenge!
Island Dreams
Funny the things we tell ourselves.
I’m better off without you.
Couples with children noisily talk, laugh, play, while I turn the page in the latest epic adventure tale of the moment.
Maybe I’m not really an island. Maybe I’m a causeway gurgling beneath the surf. Maybe I’m the chain between two box-cars, shattered, destroyed, and useless without you.
Then again, maybe I like my freedom, the open sky, no arguments, no promises to “never again,” no cops called by concerned neighbors. Maybe I am an island glistening amidst living waters, trundling peacefully along the track of my new life.
Anne Higa 
Anne, I am amazed by your way with words. You are truly a talented wordsmith. Lovely and moving flash on moving on.
I love this sentence: “Maybe I’m the chain between two box-cars, shattered, destroyed, and useless without you.” And the last sentence is just beautiful.
Thanks Ula for your kind words today and yesterday, too. I feel very affirmed. Thank you.
All the ‘maybe’s …Feels like a poem. Nice!
Thanks so much. Glad you liked it.
Why can’t we been the island and the open sky? That would be nice, the best of both worlds!
Thanks Freya. Yes, it would.
Very powerful, Anne. Masterful storytelling!
Great job. I like the imagery you invoked.
“the things we tell ourselves” – sometimes to kill something very valuable within us… or sometimes to pick up the pieces of the broken soul…
funny how sometimes I stop at the words that seem to be just the intro to the story, and can`t quite move forward…
thank you so much for that stop!
Lovely imagery, very lyrical. Very nice!
Ah, the complexity of relationships — that inner argument with self. Am I better off with or without him? This is so well written, Anne, your choice of words and images.
Maybe she’s on her way to a better life. I hope so. Nicely done.
This is a wonderfully crafted musing/ tale.
A decision made but still some doubts – lovely writing.
Dear Anne,
“I am an island. I have no need of friendship. Friendship causes pain. It’s loving and it’s laughter I disdain…” Sorry, I couldn’t help but wax Simon and Garfunkelish on you. Nicely written and very poetic.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Dear Anne, Beautifully written and clever! Wow – you are good! Nan 🙂