205: The Hazel Leaf

With my eyes trained down at the rain-spattered pavement, I saw her step on a leaf. In her wake, I looked down at it, pausing for a second to see that it was a hazel leaf, in the shape of a heart. Hearing my footsteps stop, she turned to look back at me.

"Oh look — a heart."

The ghost of a smile flitted across my face as I looked up to meet her gaze. Brief puzzlement skimmed across her features before turning to somewhere between concern and bewilderment. I didn't bother to explain. My hollow voice echoed in my mind as I imagined what I must look like — the shell of a person.

I wasn't there. Just ten minutes ago rage was burning me up and all I could see was red blood red threatening to boil up and explode but now — now it was as if I was hovering above my own body, envisioning my pallid face in the pouring rain, staring after something I was never going to get back.

I was the leaf on the icy pavement, crushed into the ground by the dozens of trampling feet and the cold, relentless rain.

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Written by: Millie Bysh

Instagram: @leoninepixie

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Publisher's note: All poetry published with Eudaemonia Records has been viewed and commented on by our editors. Ultimately, however, we believe that it is the writer's decision to accept or reject any suggestions made by the editors, and therefore take no responsibility for the final product.