To Choose Again
A Poem of Memory, Survival, and Choice
Some endings must be chosen more than once. 🌫️💍
📜🕰️💍🪞✉️🌒🗝️⌛🖋️🖤
The dusty chest of drawers sits
In--
the corner of grandma's cobwebbed attic.
One springs open.
Letters. Yellowed paper. I reach.
"Choose wisely. You will soon understand."
📜🕰️💍🪞✉️🌒🗝️⌛🖋️🖤
A wedding ring, its diamond dulled.
Languishing in the sink.
An unanswered voicemail.
"Christine. Why?"
I glance. Furrowed forehead. Yellowed paper.
"Why did you choose? You must understand."
📜🕰️💍🪞✉️🌒🗝️⌛🖋️🖤
I take the ring.
Wash it. Wear it.
Too big for my finger.
In the drawer, a yellowed photo.
His face. He smirks.
Grabs my hand. Roughly.
I cringe.
"Choose wisely. You are understanding."
📜🕰️💍🪞✉️🌒🗝️⌛🖋️🖤
I fling the ring--
In the trash.
I glance. Yellowed paper.
Familiar writing. Mine.
In the mirror. My smile.
Worn. Older.
I place the letter--
In the chest of drawers.
To choose again.
I chose. Keep choosing. I understand.
📜🕰️💍🪞✉️🌒🗝️⌛🖋️🖤
For Vocal's Out of Order Challenge:
Mirrors of the Mind by Michelle Liew is a collection of psychological and supernatural short stories that explore the quiet unease beneath ordinary moments. These are not tales of spectacle, but of subtle fracture — where memory distorts, silence speaks, and the self is not always singular. In these stories, what is unseen often carries the greatest weight, and what lingers is not what is shown, but what is felt.
About the Creator
Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin
Hi, i am an English Language teacher cum freelance writer with a taste for pets, prose and poetry. When I'm not writing my heart out, I'm playing with my three dogs, Zorra, Cloudy and Snowball.
Enjoyed the story? Support the Creator.
Subscribe for free to receive all their stories in your feed. You could also become a paid subscriber, letting them know you appreciate their work.
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.