| Deidre |
| Yes, I will admit, Deidre was the big one. She was the first woman I loved, my first fiance, and would have been the first mother of my child. But things went so horribly wrong that I found myself spiraling down into a pit of deep despair. Without her, I felt that I wasn't whole. It was a long time before I was able to open up to anyone again. We met through Claudia. I won't give the specific details because they're not a source of great pride for either of us. After our initial meeting, we didn't speak again for weeks. Once I broke things off with Claudia, however, I found that I couldn't stop thinking about Deidre. There was something about her that interested me. She was sweet and kind and very quiet, but intelligent. Our courtship began in the usual way and progressed nicely, without any fights or rows. When her eighteenth birthday came around, I knew that I wanted to marry her and I asked. She said yes. Not two weeks later, however, she surprised me again. She told me she was pregnant. We were both overjoyed. I didn't lose Deidre. She was taken from me. It was all because of my foolishness, my over-zealous need to have my voice heard. I staged the protest at the university. I never thought it would get out of hand, I never thought it would become a riot. Deidre shouldn't have been there, but she insisted on being at my side for this big moment. She was killed in the frenzy. A pike was shoved through her temple. She turned to look at me, her blood spattering on my shirt, and mumbled something about the stain before collapsing in my arms. |
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