Compost

She turns and shoves her stalker off the remote walking path. “Why are you following me?” Her thick blond hair falls over her face, as she screams at him, “You and me… we are over. O.V.E.R. Over, get it!” 

         The mans face crumples, his brown eyes fill with tears, “But Jessie, we had such a good thing…  I can’t do this I can’t let go. Come on we can fix this.” He reaches out to touch her arm.

         She jerks away and hisses, “We are done Warren, just let go. This was all just fun for me. I can’t help it that you got so ridiculously attached to me. To the idea of us!”

         He grabs her and pulls her close, “What do you mean? I left my wife for you. I left my kids; I lost my friends! If you weren’t into our relationship why did you let me do that?”

         Jessie steps close to him looking up smiling into his face, “I just like to have proof I am number one.” She smirks reaching up to touch his cheek.

         Warrens face-hardens and he sneers leaning into her, “ I gave up everything for you. You destroyed me and then laugh about it?“ His hands move up to surround Jessie’s throat. “I can’t let you go… can’t let you destroy anyone else.”

         Jessie gasps as Warren begins to squeeze. She whimpers, and her eyes bulge as Warren squeezes even tighter.

         Warren is stone, his eyes are closed, her legs kick out at him and her hands grasp at his- she flails outward violently.

         Her protests do nothing; she fades into twitching, then trembling and finally stillness.

         Warren releases his grip and she slumps against him. “It didn’t have to be like this Jessie.”  He tosses her body over his shoulder and walks easily into the woods.

“I know this spot deep in the forest,” he says gently, “Where a dogwood tree blooms with white blossoms. You will be useful there.”

         After some time Warren steps into a clearing where a magnificent dogwood showers creamy petals down upon them like snow in the winter. He lays her body close to the tree in a deep hollow under a heavy fragrant bough. He scratches and scraps at the loose soil covering her and his hands shake as he pushes dirt over her face. 

         Sitting in a kneeling position he bows his head, “Dear lord, I know there is no penance I can do to become clean for this, for what I have done here.” Sobbing Warren covers his face with his hands, “ I just couldn’t let her go and mess up the next guys life… But I promise I will spend the rest of my life to make this right in other ways. 

Next spring deep in the forest a lovely old dogwood shelters saplings under a heavy bough. In the years to come the breakdown of Jessie’s body lends itself to a beautiful new generation of dogwood trees.   

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