a story

his eyes started to glisten. "tell me a story," he said.

"i don't know any stories," i said.

"just tell me something then."

"ok. there was a boy once, a prince, and every day he felt like he was dying of a broken heart."

"a broken heart?"

"yes, a broken heart. see, his chest hurt every day, right where his heart is. the doctors could find no reason for it. but he knew the reason. and he knew, it was just breaking - over and over. and his breaking heart won't heal until he finds the cure. but searching for that seemed to hurt him even more."

"what's the cure?" he asked.

"he hasn't found it yet. there's no guarantee he'll ever find a cure. he just goes on like everything is fine, his life is ok, and he's not suffering from the pain in his chest. he goes on like his heart isn't breaking."

"oh," he whispered, a tear trickling down his cheek, "that's awful."

i turned the light off and walked away from my mirror. "yes, it is."