I promised to let you leave gracefully. You promised not to look back.
One of us lied.
Your footsteps kicked up dust in the yard. I followed you out, my fingers catching at your sleeve.
I will leave the door open for you. I will leave the porch light on.
Christine Hanolsy 
Beautiful work, Christine.
I wrote one, similar to yours, (Rowan pointed that out) but forgot to add on the grid.
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Thank you, Rach! So nice to hear from you. I just read yours and loved it. (I’ll comment over there… 🙂 )
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Leaving and letting someone leave, both are so painful that they suck the life out of you.very emotional piece!
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Leaving the door open and porch light on indicates her/his open willingness to continue the relationship. Even though no gender is mentioned , I perceived the lady tugging her man’s sleeve imploring to return.
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Oh, so much heartbreak here. “One of us lied” is so sad and wry and gut-wrenching. And I love those last two sentences.
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There’s an ethereal feeling to this piece. Like these people are wisps, grasping at each other with fingers made of smoke. It’s beautiful and sad.
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I have missed Yeah Write. There’s so much to learn just from reading all the writing on the grids.
I loved this one for how it conveys the contrasting emotions.
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It’s so sad. She can’t let him gonbutnhe is upholding his end of the bargain to never look back! Funny he can finally keep THAT promise! I’m feeling he probably broke others.
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Ack! After reading other comments and re reading the post, I see there is no he/she. I see I am guilty of imposing my own ideas here.
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That line in the middle–“one of us lied”–like everyone else commented on, is so impactful and wonderful! As I read it, I immediately got the sense that he lied, and he knows this, but he’s hoping that she lied, as well. The last two lines are full of hope and sadness, and part of me kind of hopes the main character will get what he wants.
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That tiny detail of ‘my fingers catching at your sleeve’ is a great touch to your heartbreaking narrative. And the last line of hope beautifully rounds up this piece. Nice one Christine!
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I love “one of us lied.” That’s powerful right there in the middle. You clearly communicate the speaker’s feelings of desperation – and hope.
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So many emotions conveyed in this piece. I liked how the answer is in the title and the piece is a powerful story to support it.
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My favorite: “One of us lied.” What a wonderful hammer.
I also liked how you left the genders (might be a woman leaving) up to interpretation. It could be anyone, anywhere, any age.
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Thank you! That’s very much what I was going for. 🙂
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I was waiting so eagerly to read your piece. As usual, you didn’t disappoint!
So much I loved in this.
That catching of the sleeve: Despair
Footsteps kicking up dust: His hurry to leave
Pathos in the last two lines that signify that he has left but she hasn’t given up hope. Oh my! Sigh.
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❤ Thanks so much, Shailaja. I honestly struggled with this one a bit.
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