Now that our breakup’s official, I think it’s only fair that I return the things you left behind in my apartment. Contained within the brown box below you’ll find the following items: 

1. Head-banging Heavy Metal Hits CD. No longer having to subject my ears to any of these songs might just be the biggest benefit of our breakup.

2. Ryan Braun jersey, size XL. Oh, the hours we spent debating “the chain of custody.” Though I never would’ve admitted it at the time, I secretly found your fierce loyalty to your favorite player endearing.

3. Dog-eared issue of Totally Rad Tattoo magazine. When you first told me that you wanted to ink my initials on your bicep, I felt flattered that you believed our relationship had that kind of staying power—but also weirded out, considering the fact that we’d been dating only two weeks.

4. Photo of you, taken by me on our one-month anniversary, your blue eyes alight with the secret you were bursting to tell, the three little words you blurted out the instant the shutter clicked. Wait. Come to think of it, I won’t be including that picture in the box after all.

Lori Cramer’s short prose has appeared in Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, Riggwelter, Splonk, and Unbroken Journal, among others. Her story “Scars” (Fictive Dream, February 2018) was nominated for Best Microfiction 2019. Links to her writing can be found at https://loricramerfiction.wordpress.com. Twitter: @LCramer29.