Pictures





I put your picture away,
I wonder where you've been
I can't look at you,
While I'm lying next to him

I called you yesterday in the hotel
Everyone knows but they won't tell
But their half-heart smiles tell me
Something, just ain't right


She smiled, taking the picture off the nightstand. It was him, laughing. She loved that picture so much but she knew it had come time to take it down. She opened the frame slowly, taking one last look at his smiling face. His brown hair and blue eyes were striking, but his features were soft, his smile genuine.

She took it out of the frame and gently placed it in a thick photo album, at the back. She closed the album and stuck it in the back of her closet, before doing her makeup. Only minutes later, her mother and sister were in the room, fussing over her hair, her dress, and every last detail she'd never care about if they weren't there. This wasn't how she had wanted to get married. She'd wanted a small ceremony on the beach, and Ashley had as well. But her mother and father had insisted on a lavish ceremony, held at their expensive colonial home. She smiled to herself, relishing in the memory that her and Ashley had snuck away and eloped before the big day. It had made everything perfect, and now it didn't matter because they were already officially married.

She was sitting on the bed, fixing her shoe, when her mother interrupted her thoughts.

"Where is the picture of Joshua?" she asked, searching the dresser for the photograph she had seen hundreds of times.

"I put it away." Trista replied simply.

"What?" her mother gawked, as her sister entered the room again.

"What's the matter, Mom?" Sharlene asked, seeing the hurt expression.

"Trista put Joshua's picture away." She answered, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"How could you have the heart to do that?" She asked, shocked as well.

"Look, it's time for me to move on. I'm marrying a man I love very much, and I don't want Joshua to haunt me." Trista explained calmly.

"Haunt you?!" Her mother exclaimed. "How could you say such a thing? Joshua was your first love! You'd have married him long ago if it hadn't been for the accident..." she trailed off sadly.

"Mom, I know. I loved Joshua. I still do. But he's gone. I have to realise that, and move on. I love Ashley now." She answered, unmoved.

"I can't believe you're being so cold, Trista Marie Thornton." Her sister chimed in.

"Well, it's not up to you. It's up to me. If you like the picture so much, you can have it." She said, rising from the bed to get the photo.

"No." They said in unison.

"Look, I know you loved Josh. I loved Josh. But he's gone. He won't be back." She said, bluntly.

"I know." Her mother sighed. "I just don't see how you can move on."

"Don't you want me to be happy? I know Josh would have wanted me to fall in love again. And I have! It's not my fault he died, Mom. He was the one drinking. He's the one who got into his car and drove home. It's over, and I can't go back!" She was almost yelling, as the tears came to her eyes.

Her mother stood for a moment, shocked. "I'm going to leave you alone to finish getting ready, Trista." she said quietly, leaving the room. Sharlene followed a moment later.

She sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes and finding the photo album again. She opened it to the very back, looking at the picture once again.

"I still love you, Joshua. I always will." She said, quietly, closing the album.

With one last look in the mirror, she turned, to marry the love of her life for a second time.


The End





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