Outage

A thunderclap awakens me to a power outage and darkness. My husband shuffles through the house, searching for a candle. When we moved here five years ago, we turned off the lights as an excuse for a candlelit dinner with firefly sushi and sparkling wine. Today, even with the lights on, we would nibble black beans and burnt eggplant in silence, with the TV playing in the background. I hear him trip over the suitcase he packed for Florida next week, leaving me to regret my infidelity and the chambers of loneliness I’d be confined to forever.

Swetha Amit