Red River Falls Stories By soldierboy50401

[Ramesh_Rocky]

And then I started to chuckle. And that was followed by laughter. Pretty soon, I was laughing so hard my sides hurt.

"What the hell is so funny, Patrick?"
"You!" I said, trying to regain my composure. "You are what is so funny! Don't you get it? The whole fucked up situation is so ironic it's hilarious! I was content being the man I wanted to be - a good husband, father and provider. That wasn't good enough for you. So you cheated on me with the type of men you wanted in your life.
"And because you turned yourself into a shameless whore for these men, it ultimately ended up turning me into the man you always wanted me to be! And now I'm finally the man you always wanted and I have absolutely ZERO desire to be a part of your life! Ironic, huh?" I burst out laughing again as Clarissa burst into tears again from a new wave of shame.
"Please, Patrick. You have to believe that I'm not that same person anymore. That's who I was then, not who I am now."
"Oh, bullshit, Clarissa. For a moment there during your explanation, I caught a very good glimpse of Clarissa the cuckoldress. She's still there somewhere inside, whether you believe it or not. And besides, why should you care now, anyway? You've got Tom Wellington in your life to fill the role of the ambitious, successful male role model."
"I broke up with Tom weeks ago, Patrick. I haven't seen him since the Festival. It's you I think of now. I still love you and only you! Believe me, Patrick, if I could go back in time and change things to where we lived in our little two-bedroom ranch house and you back on the security officer force, I would do it in a heartbeat not to have to go through all of this again," she sobbed.
"But we can't, Clarissa. We can't. If there's one thing I learned from you it is that I'm no longer going to focus on the past. Our life when we lived in that little ranch house together is in the past and you chose to ignore it. Our time together before I became Sheriff is in the past and I'm going to choose to ignore that.
"My life has one direction now, Clarissa, and that is forward. And I'm choosing to take the boys, Shannon and Bridget with me." I turned and left once and for all and climbed back in my truck, casting one final glance at Clarissa as she stood there sobbing and trying to console herself.
"Why is Mom crying?" my youngest, Jake, wanted to know.
"Because she misses someone," I answered.
"Who does she miss?" Nick asked.
"Someone who doesn't exist anymore."
"What happened to him? Did he die?" Jake asked.
"Nope. He didn't die, boys. In a very real way, you could probably say he was reborn."
I put the big Ford in gear and headed back to my home in the country, forward to my new life with my boys, my soon-to-be daughter Bridget and my beautiful fiancée Shannon, who would become my loving wife in just a few short weeks.
I caught one last glance at Clarissa in my rearview mirror and was struck by how profoundly appropriate that image was. She was right where she belonged.
SB