Afterwards

by Chris Lihou

Image credit: simon on Unsplash

Afterwards, she lay on his chest, her hand on his limpness.

“Have you been with others?” she asked, her passions now calmed. She needed to hear that she had singularly charmed him, even though his seed was not the first she had taken into herself.

He understood her wish to feel their union unique and, given their staunchly religious community, to be reassured for the risk she had taken.

“Not like this,” he said, disclosing little but leaving her to interpret as she needed.

It was a scene that played out many times as she sought love, attention and connection that were absent in her home life. 

Then her careful timing failed her. The foetus she carried forced unthinkable decisions.

***

Chris Lihou

Chris is a retired engineer who, in 2020, following a serious medical diagnosis and treatment, found that writing short stories and poetry provided therapy and delight. His writings speak to the nature of our lives, its highs and lows, our pain and joy, our fantasies, life’s quirks and realities and even a bit of life’s silliness. He has self-published two compilations, Fifty More or Less and Fifty or More. Both are available on Amazon.