Regrets

It was a crisp October night, colder then usual, when Ciera pulled up in front of a large house. It had been raining out earlier so the cars, the grass, the street, everything was covered in a thick layer of water. The rain had died down to a light drizzle now, so light that it was almost just a mist. Ciera glanced at the house with tears streaming down her face. She gently wiped them away and looked forward, watching the raindrops fall down the windshield of her new Honda Civic. Her right fist was clenched tight for she was holding her whole world inside it. As she opened it to look at a white-gold engagement ring, she burst out into tears again. Quickly re-clenching her fist, her head dropped to rest on the steering wheel. When Ciera finally lifted her head, she started at the door handle. She placed her free hand on it and pulled but as soon as the door began to open she just shook her head and closed it. She took a deep breath, thinking that it would help calm her nerves but it proved unsuccessful as more and more tears shed from her emerald colored eyes.

She was quite beautiful, but not in the stereotypical sense of beauty. She was short and on the pale side. Her fire engine red hair fell in tight curls around her face, which was covered in subtle freckles. Her personality completely shone through and you could sense her love of life in those eyes almost all the time. She was truly beautiful in her own way, even as she sat helplessly crying.

Once again Ciera lifted her head to look at the house. It was your classic, cookie cutter, two story house. Nothing too special, in fact it looked almost exactly the same as the houses on either side of it. Ciera gripped the steering wheel and took another deep breath as the tears finally seemed to stop. She looked over at the passenger seat at a medium sized brown box, covered in a sweatshirt. She grabbed the box and put it on her lap. She gently picked up the sweatshirt and buried her face in it as more tears rolled down her cheeks. A few seconds later she lifter her head up and threw the sweatshirt onto the passenger seat. She began to rifle through the box. It was filled with scrapbooks, jewelry, photographs, teddy bears, pretty much every good memory she had from the past two years. She came across a photograph and lifted it out of the box. It was a photo of her in front of the very house she was parked in front of now. There was a man in it; he was holding her by the waist and kissing her. With just one glance at this picture Ciera grew angry. She ripped the picture in half, right in-between them, and threw it back into the box. She opened her clenched fist and took one more look at the ring before throwing it in the box with the rest of her destroyed memories. Full of fury now, Ciera finally mustered up the strength to walk up to the house. She slammed her car door and stomped up the driveway holding the box. When she got to the font door she lifted her hand like she was going to pound on the door. She froze for a second, hand in mid air, and looked down at her feet. She lifted her head and proceeded to lightly knock on the door instead.

After a few seconds a man answered the door, the same man from the newly torn photo. He was of average height and also a little on the pale side. He was muscular and very attractive. Next to Ciera, it was obvious that they would look good together. His light blonde hair complemented her red hair and they shared the same emerald colored eyes. He looked shocked but at the same time happy to see Ciera at his door. He opened the screen door to let her in but she stayed exactly where she was and just shoved the box into his arms. "Please come in for a little." Ciera just stared at him and shook her head. "You know I can't Mark. I can't do this anymore." Ciera felt the tears welling up in her eyes once again and quickly turned to leave before he could see. She raced down the driveway and out to her car as fast as she could. She slammed her car door shut and looked back up at the house. She saw Mark still standing at the door. He was looking at her car, hoping that she would come out and go back up to him again. Ciera turned her car on and watched him slowly close the door as she drove away.