#SwiftFicFriday – Week 104 Winner!

Happy Tuesday!

Siobhan Muir (@SiobhanMuir) flew the highest this week and takes her nineteenth win!

Check out her story below and congratulate her on Twitter.

Congrats on your #SwiftFicFriday win @SiobhanMuir! Check out her flash piece and show her some love #WritingCommunity

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“Were you ever married?”

She shrugged. “Yeah. It didn’t work out.”

“Why not?” Chester had the grace to blush. “I mean, if it’s not too painful to talk about.”

She sighed and rubbed her thighs. “It is and it isn’t. The memories aren’t very good. He was a mean bastard, and not just when he was drunk. So I joined the Army and he couldn’t do anything to me then.” It wasn’t that simple, but the details weren’t important anymore.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

She nodded. “Thanks. It took me a while to realize that I’m not sorry.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You’re not?”

Hermione shook her head with a smile. “Nah. He taught me a lot, including how to stand up to him, how to find solutions when there appeared to be none, and made me a helluva lot stronger. He taught me warning signs, and what I didn’t want. I don’t exactly venerate him, but I’m grateful for the harsh lessons I learned from him.” She let a smirk curl her lips. “It became very easy to spot abusers, even those who were sweet talkin’ authority to get away with hurting their spouses.”

“What gave them away?”

She shrugged. “The smooth ones are all dismissive and friendly, like they’re trying too hard to find the bros who are the same. But they carry the meanness in their eyes. My ex wasn’t as smooth, but he had a whole network of bros to vouch for his character. It didn’t work nearly as well when I joined the Army while he was at work. Once I signed on the dotted line, he couldn’t do anything about me leaving.”