Written by Thomas J. Misuraca
UNTITLED | Photograph by Vantage
It was his wedding day. He and his bride stood under the Chuppah. She never looked more beautiful.
The cloth-wrapped glass was placed at his feet. The glass-breaking tradition, a symbol to both remember the tragedies of the past and that both life and their relationship are fragile.
He stomps on the glass. It shatters. The crowd roars with applause.
But somehow the shards of glass ripped through the cloth napkin, penetrated the sole of his shoe, and stabbed through his foot.
The pain was excruciating.
Blood poured out from his foot. Staining his bride’s white-silk dress reddish-brown.
Her screams jolted him awake.
Just a dream.
It took a moment for his heart to slow.
He reached for his phone and looked at the calendar.
Thirteen days until the wedding.
His foot throbbed in pain, as if daggers of glass floated inside it.
.
Tom Misuraca studied writing at Emerson College in his hometown of Boston. Over 180 of his short stories and two novels have been published. His story, Giving Up The Ghosts, was published in Constellations Journal, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. His work has recently appeared in Phil Lit, TrashLight Press, and Ivo Review. He is also a multi-award winning playwright with over 200 short plays and seventeen full-lengths produced globally. His musical, Geeks!, was produced Off-Broadway in May 2019. He lives in Los Angeles.