He gave most to the versions of her that deserved the least. That’s when he genuinely loved her. Loving her, as he did—so deeply, so dearly, so desperately—was his only option. He often wondered how different people have been presented with other options. How they managed to escape this consuming feeling of his. Though he was eternally grateful that she is on his mind always. And for those brief moments she begins to slip his mind, he is reminded how every breath has him wishing that the air has some faint memory of her scent. As she was so beautiful, her beauty corrupts.

This isn’t a love story. Maybe it started as one, was one at some point, but it soon became volatile; like all things: temporary.

A collection of four short stories that encapsulate the essence of being human throughout different decades, with the primary themes of which being love, loss, and remorse.