I’m drifting off, when I hear our apartment door closing, not slamming, just clicking shut in a careful way. I can’t seem to open my eyes, so I lie there, listening to the defrosting fridge. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. About the words I’ll use to make him change his mind. How, after I’ve convinced him, the words I’ll use to tell him I’m the one who’s leaving. I manage to find the pen and notepad on the bedside table before I fall into a deep sleep. In the morning I fumble for my glasses, and check the pad to remember my nighttime thoughts. There’s one line: I can’t afford to pay the rent here on my own.

Louella Lester

is a Winnipeg (Canada) writer and photographer. Her writing has appeared in journals such as New Flash Fiction, Blink-Ink, Flash Flood, Potato Soup, Cleaver, The Odd Magazine, Litro, Five Minutes, SoFloPoJo, The Dribble Drabble Review, and a variety of other journals and anthologies. Her book Glass Bricks (At Bay Press, April 2021), written in flash and micro, is a quirky look at her work life.

Author’s blog: Through Camera & Pen