Short Story

Shattered Reality

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

This is The Unicorn Challenge
where we are encouraged to write
a story in 250 words or less using
the photo below as inspiration.

© Ayr/Gray

As I waited at our usual meeting place, trepidation set in. We had planned this trip for months, a romantic getaway to reignite the spark between us. But now, as I fidgeted with the plane tickets, an uneasiness settled in my stomach.

When she arrived looking so beautiful, my heart raced with hope only to plummet as she drew nearer; her eyes clouded with a storm I’d never seen before. Was it anger? Regret? Something more intense?

“We need to talk,” she said, her voice devoid of the affection I had grown accustomed to.

Time slowed, the air thickened, and the world around us faded. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as she spoke the words that would shatter my reality: she was leaving me for someone else. I was hit with such force, it felt like the ground beneath me was quaking. I searched her face for a glimmer of hope, but all I saw was a resolve that pierced my heart.

“Why? Was it something I did?”

The silence was unbearable. I wondered how everything between us had changed so drastically. She looked at me for a few seconds, as though she might say something, then turned and quickly walked across the street. She got into a red car and, as the driver’s profile came into view, I was stunned.

It was him!

Three years ago, he and I fought violently. I bashed his head with a fireplace poker, certain he was dead. Careless of me.


NAR©2025
250 Words

This is “Careless Whisper” by Seether

The Unicorn Challenge-20/06/25

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy’s Notes 🖊️🎶, The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, The Rhythm Section, et al., and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

45 thoughts on “Shattered Reality”

  11. It’s not about assigning blame, but more about understanding that the relationship likely faced challenges that led to the breakup. I am sure that you will find someone else more suitable for you.

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  13. LIWIW*:

    “Time slowed, the air thickened, and the world around us faded.“

    *Line I Wish I Wrote

    Plus one of the all too rare examples of a cover version equal if not superior to the original.

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    1. Thanks so much, Sue. I didn’t plan that ending from start; in fact, I just had them going their separate ways and getting on with life. Then I noticed the red car in the photo prompt and another idea started forming. This is just one example of why I love prompts, whether images or words.

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  18. I hate it when that happens – you think you’re done with something and it comes back and bites you on the behind – AND grasses you up!

    Nicely plotted, Nancy.

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