How I Left the Cheater

by Angela Carlton

At the motel, there’s a ghost of a man parked on the asphalt. Pictures of his military service are plastered all over the windows. “Ma'am,” he pleads. “I’m-I’m, living in my car!” You see badges spread out on a cracked vinyl seat like a tiny, glorious-glorious shrine. Minutes before the sun sets low in the indigo sky, you place the expensive, meaningless wedding ring in his weathered hand.

6S

Angela Carlton's fiction has been published in Every Writer, Everyday Fiction, Pedestal Magazine, 6S, 50-Word Stories, Spillwords Press and Friday Flash Fiction. In 2022, “A Jigsaw Life,” a collection of stories was released. In 2023, her story “Swallowed,” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. See more on Facebook.