What We Bear

The cable went out at 3 AM, killing the zombie movie Marcus had been half-watching for hours. He stared at the blue screen, the static humming like the silence between them.

"You going to fix it?" Elena asked from the bedroom doorway. She held her wine glass like a weapon.

"Tomorrow."

"You said that yesterday."

"I'll bear down on it. Promise."

She laughed—sharp, bitter thing. "You've been bearing down on everything for months. Your job, this trip, us." She gestured to the pool beyond the glass doors, its surface reflecting moonlight like a bruise. "We haven't even used it. The whole reason we rented this place."

Marcus rubbed his face. His scruff scratched his palms. "I'm tired, El."

"I know. That's the problem."

He walked to the deck, needing air. Something moved at the tree line—a fox, its coat burning orange even in darkness. It watched him with eyes like old pennies, intelligent and utterly indifferent to his marriage falling apart. Then it vanished, leaving only the rustle of leaves.

"What are you looking at?" Elena behind him now, her voice softer.

"A fox."

"Did you know foxes mate for life?" she said. "But they don't live together. The female has her den, the male has his. They meet up, breed, go their separate ways. It works because they don't expect each other to be everything."

"Is that what you want? Separate dens?"

"I don't know anymore." She stepped closer, her hand finding his. "I just know I miss being alive around you. Instead of feeling like we're both walking through this half-dead, going through motions because that's what married people do."

The zombie movie reference hung between them, unspoken.

"I can fix the cable," Marcus said. "Or we can swim. The pool's heated."

Elena looked at the water, then at him, really looked at him, for the first time in days. "The cable can wait."

They undressed in the moonlight. The water was shockingly warm, and as they floated side by side, not touching but present, Marcus thought maybe some things could still be resurrected. Not everything. But maybe enough.

The fox watched from the trees, and the cable remained dead, and for once, nobody minded.