Eric

"What?"

"What do you mean what?"

"I mean...what? What are you doing?"

"You heard what I said, Greg"

"O.k. I suppose I mean why? Why are you doing this?"

"Cause. It felt good. Ok. It feels good. I...need a change"

"But I can forgive you. We can fix this. You don't have to leave on top of everything else you've done"

"I want to leave"

Silence passes.

"I'm sorry"

"What is his name?"

"Oh, come on, Greg. Don't do this"

"It's just a simple question. What's his name?"

"Eric. Ok. His name is Eric"

"Where did you meet him?"

"I'm not doing this with you. I'm leaving. I'm sorry. Goodbye"

And with that she was gone.

I sat on the couch and slowly started going through the various stages of grief. I cried til I threw up. I rolled the name "Eric" around in my head until it lost all meaning. I repeated the name outloud. Slowly at first and then over and over like a mantra. I got up and said it louder into the living room. I shouted it to the ceiling. It quickly grew from a name to a primitive grunt. I hurled it into the air as I started pounding the wall with my fist. As the days went on it eventually became the only word I could say. People would say "hello" and I would reply "Eric".

"How are you?"

"Eric"

"Where are you from?"

"Eric"

"Eric...what state is that in?"

It grew until people thought that was my name and began calling me Eric. I embodied the spirit of Eric. I became the type of man that would break-up a marriage. I became Eric.