Reformed
by Michael Haynes

Marshall churned away on an elliptical machine at his gym. His attention wandered from the news during a commercial and he noticed a woman running on a treadmill across the room. He only saw her in profile, but she looked like Carol. Not Carol right before she died, lying in a hospital bed. Carol when they first met, several years ago. Carol when she said “Yes” to his proposal and accepted the ring he offered.

This woman’s body shape wasn’t quite right and her hair was auburn, not blonde, but it took his mind a half-second to notice those differences. The similarities were what it processed first, bringing back all of the wonderful and sickening feelings he associated with the woman he had loved. He looked away, pulled his focus back to his workout.

A few minutes later, he saw her again. This time she was walking straight towards him. His mouth went dry as he saw her face in full. She did not merely look somewhat like Carol. Her face was Carol’s face. The chin, the lips, the curve of the ear . . . he couldn’t help but stare at her, trying to make sense of it. Then she was past him and gone. His arms and legs kept working away, his mind and heart stunned. When he came to the awful realization of what this encounter meant he felt weak, ill. Marshall fumbled with the machine’s controls, finally bringing it to a halt, and bolted from the gym. Read More→