Little Red String

For years, I've been wrapped around your finger,
Twisting and turning and bending every which way to your every which will.
Without you realizing it,
You've tugged me along by a little red string that binds me to you, but not you to I;
And for years, I said nothing, continuing on with a pain in my chest that can only be born from want.

Yesterday, I realized that you didn't love me like I loved you;
In fact, you never would—
Never could.
I should have known that when I told you about the little red string—MY little red string—you had wrapped around your long, pale fingers,
And you said that I didn't have yours around my short, tan ones.
I said to myself, "I know that!"
Of course I said that;
Denial of one's feelings is the best medicine for unrequited love.
But there's a certain and undeniable confirmation in the pain that follows when you see that the person you're tied to is strung along by someone else, and that someone is strung to them.

Last night, I had a dream that I kissed you;
And it wasn't out of love or lust or longing;
It was a goodbye,
A lingering press to the cheek that one gives when they know they won't come back—
A lingering press to the cheek that means cutting ties.

Tonight, I'm asking you to sever that little red string, and turn it black.
It'll hurt,
And the pain will be almost unbearable,
Like a little red artery cut out from my chest,
But it will never,
Never compare to the pain I feel seeing your little red string in someone else's hands.

So unwrap me from around your fingers,
Cut my little red string from you,
And give me the freedom I so desperately need.

⏛

Author's note:

To be honest, this book is just me coming to the realization that I can't post my angst on private social media accounts like I can here without getting some... interesting responses.

More updates to come here between lags in chapters of All Hallows' Words Fall on Deaf Ears.