The Jade Necklace

The weight of words.

She left behind the jade necklace he had given her. Surely this was on purpose. Perhaps it was her way of saying that she didn't want to leave. That she was leaving her heart behind. He stared as it twinkled back at him in the morning light. So beautiful, so alive in the sun. Yet his soul became paralyzed from a bitter seed of doubt. One he would always carry.

Did she really want to leave him? She hadn't left her wedding ring. She always came back. Always. But she was so bitterly angry. She said he was scum. Worthless scum. Did she mean it?

Or was he kidding himself? After all, here he stood, alone, with nothing more than his shame, broken heart, and a jade necklace that only he remembers.

The necklace and the poem. Her poem she had written to him the night before their wedding. It spoke of how she dreamed of celebrating each year of their marriage with something jade. It was how they met, after all. You're eyes are the most stunning shade of green, he told her. Her eyes fluttered and she giggle seductively. They're Jade. Come closer and see, she invited him.

He would uphold that dream even if it killed him on the inside. When she left the house that night, after their argument, surely she intended to come back home to him. Surely she still loved him. It had to be true. It simply must be true.

He ignored the incessant and disquieting voice in his head. He left the house and drove to the florist. Today his dearest Emily would have the most beautiful jade flowers on her headstone. If she could no longer come home to him it was now up to him to come home to her.

1

Footnotes
1  Daily Flash Fiction Contest Entry, April 28, 2025 -- Prompt: Write a story that includes the words; poem, jade, seed