Screen Light in the Dark

Maya's iphone glowed in the tent, illuminating the tear tracks on Elena's face. Three years of friendship, dissolved by a single text message that shouldn't have been sent.

"I didn't mean to send it," Elena whispered, her voice cracking. "I was drunk, and you know how I get."

Outside, the lake water lapped against the shore—a rhythm they'd planned to fall asleep to, not fight to. This camping trip was supposed to repair what had been broken since January, since Elena slept with Maya's brother, since the wedding invitation arrived in the mail asking Maya to be a maid of honor.

Maya stood up, unzipped the tent. "I'm going for a walk."

"Maya, wait—there's a bear," Elena said, grasping for something, anything. "The ranger warned us."

"Better than what's in here." Maya stepped out into the cold night air.

She walked to the water's edge, iphone light dying, the screen going black as she stood there. The real darkness pressed in. She thought about how they'd met in college, how Elena had held her hair back when she drank too much freshman year, how they'd promised to be bridesmaids at each other's weddings. Now Elena would marry her brother, and Maya would stand there in a dress that cost too much, smiling for photos, faking it like an adult.

She heard a rustle in the trees. A bear, maybe. Or just wind.

Her phone buzzed. A text from Elena: Please come back. I'm scared.

Maya stood there, water inching up her boots, and realized she didn't know what forgiveness felt like anymore. Or if she even wanted to.

The screen went dark again. No bear came. Just her, and the water, and a friendship that might already be dead.