There were promises made, solemn vows taken on holy ground before God and man. Pledges to honor in good times and bad, through sickness and health, through prosperity and misfortune.
No one stood up, no one said these two should not be bound together for life. It was meant to be. Their union, blessed and sacrosanct, would last until the end of time, or until the end of their days. It was said often enough, it had to be true.
That they had only known each other for a scant few months, had only seen each other in person a handful of times, wasn’t judged. Many arranged marriages didn’t offer as much familiarity as that. Years later their marriage broker would apologize to their youngest child, haunted by the train wreck their lives became.
The other women never apologized. It would be generous to say they didn’t know they were encroaching on a hallowed marriage, or even the hollow marriage it became at the end.
Jagged and ugly fissures cracked the surface, deep and infected. There would be no miraculous healing. No laying on of hands could raise the love that was once between them. Still they were expected, commanded, to remain together. It wasn’t the death of their love that could release them, only their own physical demise.
Atrophied and gangrenous, they struggled on, putting forward a false front to the world. Madness threatened, anger festered, until they would rather be damned apart, than in hell together.
The accusations began immediately. She should have tried harder. There was something she was lacking that made him do the things he did, she should have held her family together… sinner, whore.
She made promises. It didn’t matter that he broke his vows, that he transgressed. She was a child of the church, and knew her obligations. She would not be forgiven.
For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Dara challenged me with “‘We don’t get angry because the glass is broken, we get angry because we thought the glass would never break.’ — Robina Courtin (Buddhist nun)” and I challenged Cedar with “‘Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.”‘Babatunde Olatunji “
Thin spiral notebook 
Great use of the prompt!
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Unbelievably good. Really a pleasure to read.
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I see you know already – i was going to suggest using “gangrenous”.
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Your writing inspires me!!!
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Wow – I am simply speechless. This is just gorgeously written, and cuts very deep on all emotional levels.
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Poignant and piercing this is. Your words so tightly knit and carefully chosen bring me in and leaving the suspense of what happened to the very end was perfection. Great response!
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Oh this is another one that gave me shivers as I read it. This is so haunting and sad and … a life I want no part of. I love reading what you write, but you know you always leave me hungry for more!
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The conflicting emotions of a broken marriage are so hard to express. I like how spare the words are here. It’s like watching Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compare 2 u video.
This is so simple and strong.
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I love the part where the marriage broker apologizes to the youngest child – that’s the most haunting passage of all for me. I’m pretty sure the past tense of gangrene is ‘gangrened’, but I LOVE the rhythm of “atrophied and gangrene”, like those have become their new names.
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I was using ‘gangrene’ more of an adjective than a verb there, so I guess it would be more accurate to be ‘gangrenous.’ I should take some remedial English classes obviously.
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Poignant and powerful are the words you used to express the torment of a failed marriage. This was a wonderful write from the prompt given. Phrases like “their marriage broker” give a distinct feeling that is both emphatic and emotionally charged. You did this well… but I have come to expect that from you 😉
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