ManyWriters

During spring cleaning, I lost the bone bracelet that my wife Annalise always clutched in her hand.
She flew into a rage over this, pushing me down the stairs and breaking my leg.
Only then did I realize that the bracelet was made from the bones of Dean, her deceased first love.
Despite her severe germaphobia, that night she rummaged through every trash can downstairs.
While I was hospitalized, she never showed up, yet her social media was flooded with memories of her and Dean.
[If you didn't have a slight resemblance to him, Liam, I wouldn't have given you a second glance in the first place...]
I closed my eyes and dialed that long-buried number.
"It's me, Julian. I'm back."
If the beginning was a mistake, might as well end it sooner.

The Bone Charmer

The cemetery was on the outskirts of town.


By the time I made it back to the apartment after a grueling journey, it was already dawn the next day.


But Annalise, who was about to leave, showed no concern when she saw me.


She even took a step back, covering her nose in disgust.


"Liam, don't sleep on the bed tonight."


My heart had already gone numb the night before.


In six days, I would be leaving this place.


I wanted to destroy everything related to me.


Even if just one thing remained, I'd find it revolting.


After Annalise left, I gathered all my clothes.Laughable. In these four years, all my clothes combined wouldn't even fill half a suitcase.


Annalise often said, once we made money, she'd buy me lots and lots of clothes.


She seemed to have forgotten those words.


I tossed my clothes into the donation box downstairs.


Then I dug out our wedding photos with Annalise.


When we took these pictures, the photographer suggested she remove the bone bracelet from her wrist.


Saying it clashed with the overall style.


She even threw down the bouquet in a fit of rage.


It took me over half an hour to calm her down.


Back then, I thought the bracelet held some other significance.


I even made up reasons in my mind to justify it.


Never once did I imagine it could be for this reason.


I caressed our wedding photo, laughing out loud.


Then, without hesitation, I took scissors and cut out my half from every picture.


Finally, I threw all the gifts Annalise had given me over these four years into the trash can downstairs.


Truth be told, she hadn't given me many things in these four years.


Except for one thing - a glass ring she made by hand when we first got together.


She had accidentally injured her finger while making it.


When she gave it to me, her hand was still wrapped in gauze.


She said her craftsmanship wasn't great, but once she got better, she'd make me an even nicer one.But after that, I never received another handmade gift from her again.


I took one last look at the ring, then tossed it into the trash bin along with the other presents.


As I turned around, I saw Annalise standing behind me, looking stunned.


Chapter 4