By Huina Zheng
“Could you give me a moment?” I murmured, my voice barely audible amid the restaurant’s clatter. What does one eat for the first meal alone after two decades of marriage? The first meal out since he left for someone without wrinkles and my “love handles.”
The waiter’s gaze shifted, but my eyes remained glued to the menu. It’s just dinner. Why so monumental? I lingered on the glossy pictures, each a reflection of other diners’ past decisions.
“Ma’am? Decided?”
I glanced up. “I’ll have the Chef’s Special.”
A step away from the familiar to an unknown dish for an unknown future.
Wow! You captured the loneliness and bewilderment so well!
“It’s just dinner. Why so monumental?”
Loved this phrase because of what is left unsaid.
It’s not just dinner, but the power to make a choice for herself after years of probably not having the chance to.
Glad that she embraced a new experience and embraced the end of her marriage as the beginning of a new “future”.
Well done, Hard to end on a semi-optomistic note, but you did.
You had me caring and worrying about the character by the third sentence. Well done.
Nicely done!