Prose 01/04/2010

He helped her pack up her suitcase. Her life seemed able to be reduced to so little.
If you need anything, just let me know, he said. I’ll always be here for you. It’ll be okay. We’re going to be okay.
She laid her hand against his cheek. You’re such an optimist, she said.
I try my best.
It wasn’t a compliment. You’re disillusioned.
What do you mean, he asked.
You think we’re going to find our place, but you’re wrong. People like you and I don’t belong. Not to anyone. Not to this world, or any like it. We’re different, people like you and me. We’ll never fit in, we’ll never be home. Wherever we go, we’ll always have outstayed our welcome.
The man looked down at his feet. How can you be so sure?
She folded a yellow sweater and laid it in her bag. Because, she said. If you and I can’t make it together, it only proves that we’ll never make it apart. We understand each other like no one else does. If we can’t stand each other, then we’re never going to find rest. You and I will both wander this earth, alone. Alone until we die.
No, he said. I don’t believe that. I can’t. If there is any kind of order to this world, why would we have been created to be alone?
As a reminder, she said. To all of those unlike us. All of those who are happy and normal. We’re the reminder of what they have to lose. They look at us and feel sorry for us. They see us and know that they need to appreciate what they have, or they could end up being like you and I.
We really tried, didn’t we, he asked. We really gave it our all.
She looked at him, not stopping from zipping her suitcase shut. Yes, we did.
And love, he said, it wasn’t enough, was it?
No, she said. It was not.
I guess even love can’t defy fate.
I guess it can’t, she said.
He helped her carry her things down to her car, and he watched as she loaded them in back. They exchanged a hug and small kiss, and he stood in the middle of the road as he watched her pull away.