Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Left: Remained, or Departed (11/20/25)
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TITLE: The Ache of Loss | Previous Challenge Entry
By Asha John
11/25/25 -
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With a heavy sigh, she reached over to the armrest of the other chair, now empty since a few months.
The sense of loss was overpowering.
“You were the only one who remained when everyone else left, Jack. Why did you have to leave too?”
Quiet sobs shook her shoulders with silent heaves as the unbearable grief of losing her husband of 51 years once again gave way to tears.
The sun dipped further below the horizon as Laura wearily leaned back and closed her eyes. The early night symphony of chirping crickets, croaking frogs and the waft of a gentle breeze stirred up a host of memories.
Wiping away the tears, she whispered to herself, “That’s who Jack was. He never left. Right from the day we first met …”
The first day in the new school.
The hallway seemed to spin as I walked behind groups of jabbering students towards the science classroom. I kept wondering if everyone else could see my sweaty palms and racing heart as well.
The disquieting thoughts I was trying to ignore kept popping up; of how I stood out like a sore thumb with my limp hair and awkward bearing, of how my flannel shirt and solid jeans silently shouted ‘small town’ to anyone curious about my identity. Or at least, that’s what I convinced myself.
Keeping my eyes peeled to the ground, I hurried towards the room at the end of the corridor.
Pausing nervously for a few moments before the classroom door, I looked up. To my astonishment, I saw the warmest of smiles creasing a friendly face right next to me. I also noticed random things like the slightly frayed seam of a pullover, a mop of tousled jet-black hair and a twinkle in the pair of brown eyes eyeing me curiously.
My nervousness must have been palpable.
He stuck out a hand shyly, “Hey, are you the new kid?”
“You didn’t have to remind me”, I muttered under my breath, nodding at him and shaking his hand awkwardly for a second.
We stepped into the room together.
That day turned out to be as dreadful as I had anticipated. All those whispers and snickering behind my back. The curious stares. The mid-day recess was a nightmare except for the friendly wave from Jack (that friendly kid) across the dining hall of the school cafeteria.
When the evening bell rang, all the students rushed out while I hung back, pretending to be busy with organizing my school bag. I did not care to be gawked at anymore. It would be easier to walk out after most of them had left.
Though it felt longer than just a few minutes, after the clamor in the hallways had died down, I quietly stepped out of the Math classroom. And what a surprise! There was Jack, waiting outside, with the same friendly grin.
“Hey, where do you live?”
He seemed absolutely clueless as to the chagrin I felt but tried to hide. Couldn’t he see that I wanted to be left alone?
Nonchalantly, he fell into step and started talking about goofy Mr. Spike, the popular science teacher, the grumpy janitor I still had not met and other fun trivia about the school. Before I knew it, my nervousness began to wear off.
We also found out that we lived just two blocks away from each other…
Oh Jack, you were always there. You stayed beside me through every season.
When Dad and Mom passed on.
When I battled cancer.
When our precious baby was taken so suddenly.
Why did you have to leave, Jack?
A rustle in the bushes shook Laura out of her reverie. Involuntarily, she reached out for the Bible on her lap. She had intended to read some of her favorite psalms that evening. But this was one of those days.
“Lord, I know Jack is with you. I know I am not alone, and You will never leave me. But, today, I just don’t feel it. And You do understand.”
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I'm sorry if the content was a bit confusing.
This was loosely based on the experience of a close friend going through the loss of her husband.