Catch/Release

Everyday, he grimly fishes from the cold pier. Mechanically throwing back each catch – bass, sunfish, an odd catfish or two. Bait. Fish. Return.

At dusk, back to the managed “apartment community”. A complex for the lonely.

He knows that Karen is laughing, happily with the man she left him for after breaking his heart via txt. Perhaps making love in this moment. He hates her, but wants nothing but her.

In the dark, he confuses tears with her warm breath in his ear. It stabs him. Again.

Next to his bed, a cell phone. “I can’t do this anymore. Goodbye.”