The Ones Where I Cheated: Part 4 of 4 (May 2020)
The End
Each change she makes changes her.
Her clothing becomes a soldier's uniform, tarnished medals pinned over her left breast. Then a gauze blouse that cannot hide the track marks on her arms, a nun's habit that cannot hide the guilt in her eyes.
Despite her sacrifices, the ending is always here. Options disappear, until none are left.
"It's not FAIR!" she screams at last, hurling the book at the skeleton's feet. It closes with a dull thud, and she is gone.
The skeleton in undertaker's garb reaches down, tucks the book into its jacket, and awaits the next to try. There we are. Something about the inevitability of fate, or something.