#fridayflash: Life

Do not long for a life you cannot live.

Jeanette traced the words with her finger.

Do not. There were so many things she should not do, could not do - this was another. Do not. Another rule. Another barrier. Another shackle.

Do not long. What was it she really yearned for? She didn't know; not truly. She wanted another life. Another way. To be something other than she was. Do not long. She wanted happiness. She wanted love. She wanted out.

Do not long for a life. No. She longed for death. She longed for oblivion, to not have to think, to not have to care, to not have to worry. Do not long for a life. But what else was there to long for? For something other than this.

Do not long for a life you cannot live. There were many lives she admired but she could not live. She was not strong enough, bold enough, enough enough. But those lives called to her, telling her that she could have been something more. Something else. Something other. Do not long for a life you cannot live.

Jeanette closed her eyes. Clenched her fists. Allowed the waves of emotion to wash over her one last time, wrecking her. Then she opened her palms and wiped her face. She took a large, shuddering breath - an attempt to hold back and release at the same time.

Then she opened her eyes and walked into the life she could live. Where love had made a way and opened barriers she never knew existed. Where she could finally be one. Where she didn't have to try to be something she was not.

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Writing prompt: "Happy Endings" from The Writer's Tower (June), although it's already July.