#theme time

He landed in a fit of laughter on the ground as the child giggled inside of his protective embrace. She was so small, so fragile, so precious. He pulled himself up and she calmed herself from the sound of his strong, beating heart right up against her ear. He held her there for an eternal moment, adoring every detail of their face, their hands pulled up to their chest, their cute toes curling under her tiny feet, the curls of her lashes as her eyes lay relaxed and shut. It was just them now, his old life lay behind him like an empty ruin, but even if the ruin haunted him like a shadow looming forever, he knew he’d be able to face it. For once in his life, he felt powerless, in the best possible way.

“She rested the roses on the cold, unresponsive stone. With one last look she met the eyes of the mother and nodded as the final punctuation to their conversation. The wind blowing between the obelisk slabs and played a somber note across the hillside. The mother was finally alone. The sting of absence still remained, but she felt a little bit more at peace, closer to her precious than perhaps she did when they lived. “All of that time spent worrying over her precious, but as the girl walked towards the creaking metal gate, she felt confident that they didn’t go through life alone. They were never alone. With one last tearstained glance at the uncaring rock before looking up into the sun as it shone in on her moment in solitude. The peace and silence wrapped around her like two friends granting a much needed embrace to the mother as she breathed in the spring air.” “‘Goodbye, my beloved,’ she repeated to the stone, ‘I’ll see you soon.’”

“As their hands clasped together and their lips met for the first time, a pair of eyes lay upon them at the worst moment. Wide in surprise, sinking in anguish, the lone figure retreated from the sacred moment of meeting lips and tight embraces. As the figure faded into the shade of their secret sanctuary, words rang and shattered their earth and sky.” “‘It was too late’”

“As they lay together in their bed, the rhythm of her breathing matched his in perfect time. His mind began to wander. It wandered to all the fairytales, the romantic comedies, the media’s and literature’s portrayal of marriage and he began to think. “‘In all of those stories, marriage is the happily ever after. They never deal with what comes after, and when they do, it’s almost like the start of the relationship was what everyone waited for, what everything hung on. The beginning. After it’s almost as if it had already ended. The climax happened, the best part’s over. That’s all you need to see, the Happily Ever After. When they continue on, it’s all about something threatening the union. Temptations, kids, disapproval, incompatibility, it’s all about their struggle. Their drama. Maybe the hardest thing about this is going to be the little things, the small annoyances or grievances that we will go through every day from now on,’ he turned his head to the side and watched her rise and fall with his own breath, the slight grin on her lips, the peace in her slumber. He couldn’t help but grin. “‘Whatever might befall us, whatever happens…’ he continued, ‘I’ll face it with her… we’ll go through it together… We can talk it out, we made an agreement… until death do us part… I will be there for her through whatever she wants. Kids, no kids, a promotion, being laid off, constant travel, settling in, sudden fortune, destitution; it’ll all be hard, but at least we’ll never be alone. I’ll have her, and she’ll have me.’”

“And in that moment, the night was over. He stood on the cement with a smile on his face as the memories of the night filled his head. The wheels pulled up to the curb as he cupped his hands below him, trying to keep all of the memories from slipping through his fingers. “The best night of his life, that one unforgettable night, and it was over. Over, but not gone, he thought with his grin as he headed home alone.”

“In the end, as the figure swayed from side to side on the tree, the crowd floated in time as the silence lay over them, lingering. The crow gave a couple of caws as the branch creaked back and forth, back and forth.”