Why do people leave?

Isabel asked herself that question as she was staring at her empty apartment. Michael, her fiancé, had left with no warning, no note, nothing, not a single clue of his whereabouts. At first, she thought he was in trouble, so she called his family and friends to ask about him but got no answer.

Then, the truth came in a Facebook Status Update:

"Finally, reunited with my one true love"

That was the caption on the picture of Michael with another woman.

She was devastated, he was her first love. They met when they were both had twelve years old and everybody thought it was a kid's crush, innocent and short.

They proved them wrong; they grew together, they played together, they did everything together. He was her first kiss, her first man, her first everything, and twelve years later they were announcing their engagement and everyone was happy, it was natural, after all those years, they finally decided to take that leap. And now he was gone, he left her in a whirlwind of despair, anger, and pain.

Isabel was left alone in that empty apartment and she had to endure people's whispers and gossip about the possible reasons why Michael did that to her, and even, some said it was her fault. She was mortified and humiliated at work, with friends, family, and neighbors, everywhere she went she felt people's eyes on her.

Months later, she saw Michael and his new fiancé, they ran into each other at the grocery store. He didn't bother to even apologize, he only said:

"You must have seen this coming" and left.

The audacity and lack of respect of the years they had shared made her so angry that she made a decision: She wouldn't let anybody in her life ever again, that pain and humiliation were a thing of the past and now was time to start a new life, alone and safe from heartbreak.

She got tough and changed dramatically into a dark and unjoyful person, there was no happiness in her eyes, only anger. She was good-looking so she wouldn't have trouble finding a replacement for Michael, but she wasn't interested, every man that came up to her had the door slammed in their face because, in her eyes, they were all just like Michael.

The years went by and soon she was celebrating her fortieth birthday. It was the only day of the year that she felt some merriment in her life but only because it served as a reminder that another year had passed and no heartbreaks had occurred.

But something was different that day, she noticed on the left side of her chest a huge wrinkle. It looked like a crack on her skin, but then she thought:

I'm 40, it's normal.

She didn't even pay attention to the wrinkles that were visible on her face, even when she had always had a skin complexion that was envied by all of her female acquaintances. After her birthday, as she was looking through the pictures of the party, she was horrified when she saw them. She looked like she was a 60-year-old woman, all wrinkled and beaten by life.

Every day that passed, a new wrinkle appeared, and to her horror, no cream or facial treatment would stop them from appearing, and so, a year passed and it was her birthday again. The change was too great to go unnoticed and the crack that was on her chest also got bigger, it was like cracked glass about to explode.

Overwhelmed, she canceled her birthday party, and when out for a walk, maybe some fresh air would make her feel better. After an hour's walk, she sat at a park bench to rest a little when an old man sat beside her. After a few minutes, he asked her for the time and she replied:

4:30 sir.

Please, don't call me sir, it makes me feel old, call me Mark.

She laughed at his remark, he must have been at least 70 years old, and he was old.

But hey, who am I to judge? She thought to herself.

Well, she said, I'm Isabel.

A little uncomfortable she continued,

Age it's just a number right? What's important is what we feel inside.

The old man replied:

No mam , and please don't get me wrong, maybe you'll think I'm crazy but, I'm 45 years old.

What? 45? That man looked like her grandpa!

Worse, her grandpa had more life in his eyes than that man. It wasn't possible that what he was saying was true, but then she remembered what was happening to her and decided to listen to the man.

He said that it all had started one year ago on his birthday, and she was surprised to see that their stories matched. She then shared hers and they both sat and talked for hours and before they knew it was 11 pm and they were still talking.

From that day on, they met in the same place at the same time and spend hours talking and talking, sharing their life, their joys, and their heartbreaks, he had also shut himself down from the world just as she did and also had vowed that nobody would have power over him again.

The days went by and they bonded deeply, they started to understand that they were lonely and were craving affection from others. Once that realization came clear, one by one, the wrinkles on their faces started to fade, and the cracked chest started to heal until one day like if it was some sort of a miracle, there were none left.

Years later, Isabel and Mark were sitting on the same park bench where they had met when an old woman approached them. At first, they thought that she was having the same trouble as they did in the past, but curiously she asked them:

Have you discovered the truth about your wrinkles?

What? They both looked at the woman baffled about what she had just said.

Laughing the woman said:

Don't look at me like that, I'm really old, 84 years old to be precise.

I see that you haven't discovered the truth, so, let me help you with that:

Each wrinkle a young person gets, represents every opportunity missed, every hour spent alone, every minute we lose keeping our guard up, and every minute we forget to live.

Tears started to appear in their eyes as they were hearing the woman's explanation, she was right.

Now you see, the cracks in your chest represent that broken heart that instead of working to heal it, you used it as a badge of honor to keep others at bay, keeping yourself from living a full life.

They started to remember all those days they had spent swarming in a pool of anger and pain, trying to protect themselves from going through that again that they forgot the most important thing: their lives, living their lives. How many days were wasted because of people who didn't deserve them in the first place and were living their lives happily ever after while we were drowning in a pool of sorrow.

You might wonder, why am I saying this to you?

I've been you, and I know first hand the pain that comes from love and betrayal, but, there's no bigger betrayal than the one we do to ourselves unconsciously, because, by trying to protect ourselves from pain, we are hiding from life, from growth, from love, from happiness.

So, let this be a lesson well learned, and remember to live.

When the woman finished talking they stood up and hugged her, because thanks to her they finally had understood the true meaning of their wrinkles, and the true meaning of life itself. No matter how hard, or how painfull some experiences may be, we must never forget to live.

This came to me last night at 12pm, I don't now why, but I woke up with this in my head and started to write it up for today. My head is spinning and my blood preassure is very low but I got it done and I hope you like it.

These are my words, 100% certified by a Plagiarism Detector, check it out! 👇👇👇

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✨✨Blessings✨✨

@rebeysa85

Saturday, October 15th, 2021