When Memory Wears Yellow
For a moment, he considered forgiving her. A fresh start. A better ending. Fortunately, that moment passed quickly.
Mitchell watched Natasha walk away in her mother’s yellow dress — Nina’s dress. She moved just as Nina once did: light steps, glances over the shoulder, playful gestures. Mitchell called out gentle instructions as if through a dream. The scene played out as it had in his mind for years, except now, Natasha was unknowingly resurrecting the past
She returned to him again and again, the ritual repeating — each time more perfect than the last. He never took a single photo. He didn’t need to. The memory was etched deeper than film could hold.
Later, they sat together on the sand. She asked to see the photos. He declined. “This one’s just for us,” he said.
She smiled, trusting.
As she danced along the shore and flicked her wet hair, he saw Nina again. The gestures, the tone, the curves of memory and regret.
And when she invited him closer — when her body mirrored the one that had once betrayed him — Mitchell faltered. For a moment, he considered forgiveness. A fresh start. A better ending.
But that moment passed.
With quiet resolve, he retrieved a hidden knife from his bag.
The vision was too perfect. The memory too vivid.
He couldn’t let it walk away again.
Not this time.
And certainly not to Peter.
[excerpt from SEETHINGS 2 — available for download now!]
Ch16
Originally published at
https://michaelformanwriting.com