Starting Over Again

Sarah

I spend an hour submerged in the bathtub up to my chin. Sydney isn’t in the bedroom when I finally emerge, wrapped in nothing but a robe. I curl up in bed on top of the duvet and stare at the sunlight raining down through the glistening windows, my mind in shambles. 

I have to knit myself back together somehow. I was taken from this place as a child, given a new home, a new shot at life. I have that now. I have a son, a mate, and a family that loves me and wants to see me whole. 

I can’t go back to Crescent Falls carrying any burdens. 

I hear the door open and close softly. Sydney’s familiar footsteps brush across the carpet. He touches my hip, likely just to see if I’m asleep, but I turn to him. 

He looks exhausted. Broken and worn thin. 

I open my arms to him, and he falls onto the bed on top of me. 

“I think we’re going to be okay,” I whispe