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Jokers Wild by DD Hall (Pseudonym)

Chapter 1.

The Decision.

Michael watched Kirstie and Daniel marry at the civil ceremony, and felt both sadness and anger at the same time. Sad that he had lost the opportunity to make Kirstie happy as his wife, and angry that Daniel had again taken her away from him. He knew it was his own fault that their brief marriage had fallen apart, but he could not control the irrational thoughts that were once again taking hold of his mind and dominating his life.

He forced himself to smile and congratulate them afterwards, but as the families celebrated back at Daggers, he left the party and returned to his cottage in the hills. He could not imagine a future without Kirstie. Even after she left him and returned to Zimbabwe with her parents, he hoped that they would get back together. Even when his father told him that it was not possible, and he started divorce proceedings, he could not believe in his heart that he would never again hold her in his arms and feel her softness. He tried to be civilised and mechanically did what they all wanted him to do. He made friends with Daniel; he asked Kirstie's forgiveness; he signed the divorce papers; and today, he smiled and wished them well as his whole world was turned upside down by their marriage. No-one suspected the turmoil that was going on inside his head. No-one knew about the utter panic and fear of a future without Kirstie; without a purpose in his life. Even his new qualification as a vet was no consolation to Michael in his despair.

He drove home slowly, forcing himself to concentrate on the road, and the controls in the car so that his mind would not be diverted to other things. He opened the oak door and entered the cottage that he and Kirstie had shared when they were first married. He closed his eyes and saw her standing there by the fire, her red hair shimmering in the light, and her lips moist with the longing with which she had always loved him. He realised now that it was a longing for Daniel, not for him, although they had been happy together in the first few months before he began to resent her memories of Daniel.

Michael clasped his arms about him, and cried out in an agonising call for help, but there was no-one there, He wrenched the door open, and stumbled out into the warm evening air, and stared at the hills. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he wept with fear, the pressure in his head pressing in on him like someone turning a huge vice against his skull. He cried out again.
"Kirstie, please don't leave me!"

Learn more about this author, Dorothy Skinner.
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