When Nella notices that her husband, Eric, is acting a little strange, she follows him to find out where he is going. After several nights, she decides to ask him for the truth. But the truth turns out to be deeper and darker than Nella could have imagined. And it changes her life forever…
It all started when my husband, Eric, told me he needed some time to think things through.
We’ve been married for 12 years, and although we’ve had our ups and downs, this was the first time he had ever said anything like that to me.
‘It’s not us, Nellie,’ he insisted. ‘I just need some time to clear my head.’
But, of course, my thoughts went to the most inappropriate place.
Eric had always been steadfast in our marriage. He was reliable, balanced and calm. So when he packed a bag and casually mentioned that he would be sleeping in his car for a few nights, I became concerned.
Was Eric having an affair? Was this his way of leaving me? Was he planning to gradually disappear from our lives?
‘Are you sure?’ I asked. ‘I can give you a place here at home. You can stay in the guest room, or we can make the pool house more comfortable.’
‘Nella,’ he said, smiling slowly. ‘It’s not about us. But it’s important to me, you understand?’
For ten nights, Eric left the house right after dinner and returned just before dawn.
To be honest, he looked like hell. His hair was tousled, he had dark circles under his eyes, and he moved very slowly, as if his body simply refused to cooperate.
But every time I asked him about it, he brushed me off with a forced smile, saying he just needed a break.
‘I promise, it’s nothing. Please believe me,’ he would say whenever I asked him if he had someone else.
But how could I? My imagination ran wild. I imagined him in a hotel room with someone else, living a double life.
By five o’clock that night, I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to follow him.
To be honest, I felt ridiculous. It was like a cliché from a soap opera. But I had to know what was really going on. I waited until he left and followed him for a few blocks.
He didn’t go far. Just to the local park, where he stopped under a tree and turned off his headlights.
I parked a little further down the street and watched him from the shadows. I was nervous, as if expecting something… or someone to get into the car. Could it be that his mistress, Erica, was meeting him here?
But the longer I sat there, the more I realised that no one was going to show up. He just sat there looking at his phone, then stretched out on a pillow and blanket.
He was alone, in the dark.
The next few nights followed the same pattern.
Eric would go to the park, curl up in the front seat and spend several hours there before driving home. My head was spinning.
Why would he sleep in his car if he had nothing to hide? Why put up with all that discomfort unless it was for someone else?
On the tenth night, I couldn’t take it anymore. I’d had enough. I needed answers. After putting the children to bed, I locked them in the house and drove to the park. This time, I wasn’t going to just watch from the sidelines.
No, we had gone too far.
I stopped next to his car and knocked on the window.
Eric looked up, startled. He quickly opened the door and gestured for me to get in. Unspoken words hung in the air between us, and as I slid into the passenger seat, all my emotions came to the surface.
‘What the hell is going on, Eric?’ I demanded. ‘Why are you doing this? Tell me honestly, are you seeing someone? Is that why you’re here? Are you afraid the children will see or find out?’
I was talking too fast, as if all the words had to come out as quickly as possible.
Eric sighed deeply, rubbing his face with his hands. I could see in him a weariness that was deeper than just a lack of sleep. It was as if he was carrying a burden that he didn’t know how to get rid of.
‘No,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s not like that, I keep telling you. There’s no one else.’
‘Then what is it?’ I continued. ‘You’re scaring me, Eric. Why do you come out here every night?’
He looked at me, then reached into the back seat, pulling out a small stack of books and a recording device.
‘I didn’t want you to know,’ he said quietly. ‘I just didn’t want to worry you. But I’ve been recording bedtime stories for the children.’
I blinked slowly.
‘Bedtime stories? Why would that worry me?’
He hesitated, his hands trembling slightly. “A few weeks ago, I went to the doctor. They found something, a tumour. They did a biopsy, and the results came back. It’s cancer, Nella. And it’s bad. Borrowed time is all I have.”
It felt like the ground had fallen out from under me. I couldn’t breathe.
‘What?’ I gasped. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I didn’t want to burden you with it,’ he said. ‘I wanted you to be normal around me and the children. But I also wanted to do something for the children so they would remember me.’
I grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly as the reality of what he had been hiding hit me all at once. This wasn’t about some other woman.
This was about my husband preparing for a future I didn’t even want to imagine.
‘I won’t let you go through this alone,’ I said. ‘We’ll get through this together, Eric, no matter what it takes.’
He nodded, and tears rolled down his face, just as they did mine.
The following months were a continuous series of visits to the doctor, treatments, and nights spent hugging each other, clinging to each other so as not to lose hope.
Eric spent all his time with the children, playing with them and taking them for walks whenever he could. He made them pancakes for dinner and pizza for breakfast.
He told them they could choose their Halloween costumes several months before the holiday.
He fought with all his might, but despite everything, the disease was relentless. He knew from the beginning that the odds were against him.
He knew it when he started writing these stories in his car, preparing for the worst, but trying to convey the best to us.
‘I’ll try as long as I can,’ he promised me one night as we lay in bed. ‘But I’m starting to… get tired.’
‘I know, my love,’ I said, tucking him in under the covers with my hands. “Whatever you do, listen to your body. Rest when it tells you to.”
Eric passed away in the quiet hours of a winter morning. I remember how quiet the house was, how empty it felt without him. Our children, so young and full of life, did not yet understand the enormity of the loss.
But they sat at the funeral with glassy eyes and lost looks on their faces.
So did I.
A few days after the funeral, when the house was filled with the muffled sounds of family and well-wishers, I finally felt ready to listen to those recordings.
I walked over to his car and took the voice recorder out of the bag where he had left it. I scrolled through the files and saw the familiar titles of my favourite childhood fairy tales.
But one of them caught my attention:
‘Our Story.’
I took a deep breath and pressed play. His voice was warm and steady, and it instantly filled the space around me.
‘Once upon a time,’ he began. ‘There was a princess. She was kind, clever, and braver than any knight in the land. But most of all, she had the biggest heart imaginable.’
I smiled.
‘One day, she met an ordinary man, a simple boy from the village, without a title or wealth. But as soon as he saw her, he knew that his life would never be the same again.’
Tears welled up in my eyes as I listened to his voice enveloping me like the embrace I so desperately needed.
‘The princess and the man lived many happy years together,’ he continued. ‘Together they raised a prince and a princess. And although the man grew old and tired, he knew that his princess would live on. She would continue to rule their home… with love and strength.’
Eric’s voice faltered on the last words. I could almost picture his sad face.
‘So, my love,’ he said softly. ‘If you are listening to this, know that you were my fairy tale. You turned my ordinary life into something extraordinary. And although I can no longer be with you, your fairy tale must go on.’
It was exactly what I needed.
And now, when the days seem too hard, I listen to Eric’s voice again. And somehow I can smile again.
What would you do?
