Dissolution

She tried leaving the house unnoticed, slipping away in the dark of night praying that the amber moon wouldn't catch her in its shadow. All she wanted to do was get away without having to answer any questions, questions her pride wouldn't let her answer with the truth. She unlocked the door to her car silently, sliding in behind the wheel, and was about to turn the key in the ignition when his voice startled her.

She didn't expect him to be standing so close and for a moment their eyes locked. And everything was there for him to see. The trail of tears fresh upon her face, the anger, disappointment, fear, sadness ... All there. And it was too much. Too much for him to see and too much for her to share.

She averted her eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked her softly, stepping closer to her car. But she simply shook her head yes and kept quiet the screaming no's inside.

"Everything's fine." She said.

But it wasn't really. And she was glad her daughter hadn't been home to see the latest mess she'd made.

She could tell he wasn't buying a word she'd said by the look on his face. And given another minute, she wondered if he'd be offering his shoulder to cry on. Not that she'd take it though, her tears were very solitary things.

She just wanted out of the driveway. Out of the spotlight of his attention and the conversation that would surely take place once she was gone. And she knew the neighbors would talk, just as they would try to figure out exactly what was going on. And she didn't want to be anywhere near that conversation when it took place. Imagining it was quite enough.

She turned the key in the ignition and listened as the engine purred to life, watching as he took a step back away from the car, his eyes searching her face once more as he thought hard of something to say.

"Have a good night," he said with some pause, thinking perhaps this wasn't the right thing to say. But she understood his meaning well, and gave him a half hearted smile as she put the car in drive, and cried herself down the road.