Tell Me One Good Thing

Every night, Lara waited for the same thing. Not the call, that had become

impossible with the time difference and his rotating shifts, but the message.

Always sent just before he slept. Always short. I’m here. I miss you.

Tell me one good thing. She learned to save one small joy each day just for him.

A stranger holding a door. A song that felt like summer. The way the sky

turned soft pink before rain. Some nights, exhaustion swallowed her before his message

arrived. She hated those nights. Hated waking to proof that love

had happened without her witnessing it. One evening, after a long day that scraped her