Matthew Botos

It was a beautiful sunset Thursday night driving westward to Ohio. The red sun sunk quickly into the horizon and lit up the sweeping clouds well into the twilight.

The sun also set abruptly on my relationship with Maria. My family and I had expected her to accompany us to my cousin Patti’s wedding, but after a week of ignored phone calls and her failure to show up for the trip, it became clear that we were done.

Things had been a bit odd for the last two weeks; her presence was more distant and we found little to talk about. I tried to silence my often overthinking mind and disquieted gut feeling, though, and let time run its course. It did just that, albeit quicker than expected. Perhaps my instincts aren’t so off afterwards.