The Weight of Staying
Then one sentence caught.
It was short, almost cruel in its simplicity, but it hooked her, reeled her in.
Congratulations.
Her vision blurred at the edges, breath shuddering out of her as she processed the word. Laura sank onto the nearest kitchen chair.
The chair’s legs scraped the floor, a harsh protest against her sudden collapse. Her knee bumped the table hard enough to make the ceramic sugar bowl jump.
The bowl spun slightly, settling in a tiny, uneven circle before coming to rest, the sugar inside shifting with a faint hiss.Ow.”