Life Happens

I sank to the floor in the middle of Lucy’s living room. The soft, shag rug doing nothing to comfort me. I shut my eyes tight against the pieces of Lucy screaming at me from every corner, every surface, everywhere. Too much warmth, too much of Lucy’s zeal for life.

And she was gone.

Because I had killed her.

Miri put her hand on my back, kneeling down beside me. She patted and rubbed, but she wasn’t Lucy - and even if she was, I didn’t deserve her tenderness or care. I flinched away but, just like Lucy, she didn’t take the hint.

“Shh,” Miri soothed. “You don’t know what you’re saying. Life happens. Fate, destiny - whatever. It was probably just Lucy’s time.” She tucked the hair that had fallen into my face behind my ear. “You’re grieving. It’s okay. You’re okay.”