Original Prompt: You look at the ring you’ve struggled to take off for years. (Reality Fiction)
The ting barely made it through my headphones. Just another noise during a busy time in the gym.
“Dude.”
An arm waved into view.
“Hey, dude.” A friendly face beckoned eye contact.
Pausing my music I asked, “Yeah? What’s up?”
“You dropped your ring, man.”
“What?”
He pointed down at the ground, a misshapen ring laying there. I pulled my hand heavily into view, stripping the workout glove slowly.
The indention was stark, pale. The grooves around the edges almost perfectly matching the marginally rounded rim of the fallen ring. After all these years…
“Um, thanks.”
I reached down to unceremoniously pocket the band. Rolling it in my digits for a moment before sheathing my hand again and grabbing the barbell once more.
After all these years, all the pain and suffering. All the labor to shed weight and “get back in the game.” All the tears and struggle to fit the ring back over my thick fingers. Another reminder of the past, but now, the freedom I’d been craving since she left.
“Thanks, man.”
“Wasn’t that your wedding ring?”
“Yeah.”
“Jesus, Don, how long did you have that on?”
“Well, married for 7, divorced for 4.”
“Why didn’t you take it off sooner? Still holding out hope?”
“Oh hell no. Just…” I trailed off and looked at myself in the mirror. “Just had to make some changes.”
Inspiration Source:
https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/qw799l/rf_you_look_at_the_ring_youve_struggled_to_take/
Mike Lightheart 