A Recurring Mistake

An image of a toy car and a female figure with a suitcase.Is there any other kind? Bless the soul who learns from her first. Not me. I’m a sucker for repetition, even when it hurts.

I used to believe lies. All sorts of lies. Never fell for a politician or been duped by an ad. But if someone who loved me—or claimed to—fed me alternative facts, I’d swallow them whole without chewing.

“In a meeting.” “Stuck in traffic.” I trusted him! But when I started trusting myself and asked my dear husband if he’d had an affair, he said, “Yes.” I believed him. That time, there was no mistake.

Diane Gottlieb’s work has appeared in The Manifest-Station, The VIDA Review, The Rumpus, The Hedgehog Review Blog, Hippocampus Magazine, Brevity’s Nonfiction Blog, Entropy, among others.

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

4 Responses to “A Recurring Mistake”

  1. detour says:

    sharp story – it cuts

    I also want to comment on the photo by Thomas Hawk – great choice of an illustration for the story and a powerful construction

  2. Beautiful! & a cautionary tale.

  3. sarita sidhu says:

    Gorgeous distillation.
    “Bless the soul who learns from her first [mistake].” Amen!

  4. Elijah Johnson says:

    Wow! Great little story.

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