Gusmas 2012 Title: Painful Platitudes Author:jule1122 Prompt: Life isn't fair
When Michael asks one too many times for the latest toy they can’t afford or why his friends have fathers and he doesn’t, Debbie snaps, “Sometimes, honey, life just isn’t fair.” And the conversation is over.
Michael hates how helpless and unimportant the words make him feel.
He sits with Ben listening to Hunter shrug off another breakup. As his son dismisses the pain of being rejected because another girl panicked before learning Hunter is worth every challenge being positive poses, the same words burn against his tongue.
He never realized they hurt Debbie as much as they hurt him.