As the ripples from one rock met the ripples from another, the pattern on the surface of the water became more random.

“She won’t hear me,” I whined. “I’m wasting my time, fighting a windmill. I’m throwing oranges in an apple cart.”

“It’s better than pulling mussels from a shell,” she countered. I gave her a quizzical look. “Look at me,” she continued, “a night of casual sex, an unplanned pregnancy, and I thought life was over. I fought what life threw at me instead of learning to accept it.”

I kept staring at the water. “So all of her unscheduled visits to the doctor, her dentist, and her masseuse are nothing to worry about?” I wondered. “She’s being faithful, and I should stop ponderating otherwise?” Frustration still rose behind my veneer. I was unconsciously grinding my foot into the haphazard pile of pebbles beneath it.

Her hand squeezed my arm and I stopped. “I know this place you’re in,” she said, “and I’ll be here as long as you need me. Together, we might even find a way out.”