Out of This World

Marie Mayer
8 min readJul 13, 2021

Careful what you wish for

Nick Owuor on Unsplash

Lauren bared her teeth and cracked a knuckle with one squeeze. She could taste the foulness of Mark’s words on her own tongue.

“Don’t you understand?” he yelled. “Either move up north with me, or it’s over.”

Fine with me she thought. It wasn’t as if she lived with him in the first place.

“I understand everything Mark. And I believe some distance will do us a whole lot of good.”

“The bullshit needs to stop. Whatever fantasy long-distance lifestyle you have in mind is never going to work.”

“Traveling is my passion Mark. Always has been. I’m leaving for Venice tomorrow whether you like it or not.”

Mark let out a heavy sigh. This was just like him, expecting her to uproot her unpredictable life just to settle down.

“I’m not arguing with you anymore.” Lauren answered. For good measure, she slammed the zebra printed phone back on the receiver. It was one of the pleasures of using a landline. You could let people know how you really felt by a harsh disconnection. The room was dimly lit by her lava lamp, bringing out the faint glow of her magenta painted walls. It was after midnight and a drowsiness overtook Lauren. She propped her feet up on her desk and pulled out her lighter, clicking it a few times, trying to…

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Marie Mayer
Marie Mayer

Written by Marie Mayer

Writer of short stories both real and imagined.

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