SHORTS | A Collection of Short Stories

A Moment

1.

"Come with me." He said, his smile hiding a secret. My hand slipped into his and, I'm not going to lie, it felt more right than anything I'd known. Quietly, we escaped from the campfire into the woods.

My heart beat fast with anticipation - what was he going to show me? More specifically, where? That certainly wasn't the route to our cabin.

The ringing in my ears stopped, as we were away from all the noise and chatter of our friends, still singing songs, shouting in excitement, doing crazy things like cliff diving. Yeah we were far from there now, the mayhem replaced by calm.

"Almost there" He whispered, as if afraid to shatter the bubble that was hugging us. Our footsteps were faster now, more eager, ready for what was coming next.

We stopped.

My breath stopped.

I took a tentative step forward, unsure that this was even real. How, after all, could a place this beautiful exist outside of someone's imagination?

A dream. 

That's what it felt like, but it wasn't. The blues, pinks, oranges and all the colors in-between swirled in the sky like cotton candy. The water, oh the water flowed as calm as could be, singing with the breeze that floated around us, teasing. 'Take another step' it beckoned.

And so we did.

The sand was soft between my toes, my feet sinking slightly into its comfort.

"This... this doesn't feel real." I whispered.

There were no words. 'Beautiful' didn't do this place justice because it wasn't beautiful.

It was magnificent. Elegant. Joy.

Pure, sheer joy. The type that you feel when you are with your best friends, talking about nothing in particular but still having the time of your life. The joy that swims from head to toe when you kiss him. The joy, of love.

That's exactly what it was. Still I said,

"It's beautiful."

"It is." He whispered, sounding closer than I expected. As I turned my head to look at him, I realized he was staring at me. This prepossessing, perfervid man that I had the pleasure of calling mine, thought I was beautiful.

"You're ridiculous." I laughed, red creeping up my cheeks. The reverie we were caught in vanished as he grabbed my hand once more and pulled me to him. I was so caught up in the magic of this little coast that I didn't even realize he'd let go. My arms around his neck, his arms around my waist, our foreheads touched just a little.

"You love it." He whispered playfully but he couldn't lie to me. The question behind his eyes was evident.

I did.

"You're right,"

That was enough to light up his face like a Christmas tree.

"Well, I love you too." He grinned, making me laugh as well. How did I get so lucky? He'd had his own monsters, I know because he let me see them. He let me see them like no one before. He was hurt and I was his bandaid. I was the glue that filled the cracks.

That's what he said anyways, and there was no bigger honor for me. Because I was in the dark too, and he was my light. He scared my monsters away with just one look.

Now he's gone.

Just like that.

The world is cruel isn't it? It gives you a taste of a dream, before it snatches it away, never to come back again.

My monsters are back, because the man that guarded my heart left. He had no choice you see, because he wanted to stay, but that wasn't enough.

My mom tells me that he's in a better place now, that the twinkling star that I see every night is him. That same cliche story that we tell ourselves to make us feel better about losing our everything.

But it's not all bad.

We had more in those few years than most people I know have had in 50. He lit the fire within me that had been put out. He hammered down every brick I had put up, and it wasn't easy, but he didn't give up.

And so I won't either.

I won't let his absence put out my fire again. I won't let his absence let all the bricks fall back on me because if I did, then what was the point? What was the point of what we had?

My fire's burning, my love.

And it's only,

For you.