Six Sentence Story - "One Swing"

Photo by Kevin Schmid on Unsplash

ONE SWING COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING

I rest my backside against the porch railing,  a dangling cigarette between my fingers, letting my thoughts grow more agitated as I watch my husband through the window.

He laughs at something on the television, unaware of how carefully I’ve begun to study his routines, his idiosyncrasies, and the simple yet overly boring structure of his life.

I take a long drag, letting out the smoke slowly, and eye the ax kept for splitting wood, its weight and reason no longer just practical in my mind.

I tell myself I’m only imagining it—how easily one swing could change everything—but even as the thought keeps returning, I wonder if I'm truly capable of something so vile and barbaric.

The air suddenly feels heavier now, thick with every small cruelty I’ve swallowed and every silence I’ve kept over the years.

Even as I put out the butt of the cigarette, grinding it into the dirt with the soul of my shoe, I realize I haven’t decided what direction my life will take—only that I've decided something will change tonight.

​​PROMPT WORD: "SWING" brought to you by GirlieOnTheEdge