SECOND CHANCE
Time is the gift that has been both my blessing and my curse. For though it has given me the opportunity to find my love, it is also the force that has ultimately taken her from me. And now time threatens to take her memory from me as well, for time dulls all things, even the greatest of loves. It seems worthless now, her sacrifice, now when my son is dying, dying because of the passing of time. I remember her now only when the scent of jasmine fills the cool night air, that in itself is an unpardonable sin. The feel of her touch, the color of her eyes, her dazzling smile, exist now only on the photograph of her which is slowly starting to fade, until only faint hues remain there where once was a glittering rainbow. I look down at the photographs spread before me. They were of an open- air café and I had taken them for a case I am working on. My eyes are drawn to one particular shot, to the girl standing behind the person I was taking pictures of. Her long dark hair, her dazzling smile, the way she pouts at the person she is speaking with, is an exact replica of her. A second chance? Could it be? If the Powers would declare that the rest of my existence be filled with agony, I would gladly have accepted it, if only this dream were to become real, if only they would grant me this second chance. Outside, the sun slowly sets, the shadows in the Hyperion grow longer, night has come to the City of Angels. I stand and shrug on my coat as I stride out into the lobby, out the front door, my every step filled with purpose as I go in search of my second chance.
Time is the gift that has been both my blessing and my curse. For though it has given me the opportunity to find my love, it is also the force that has ultimately taken her from me. And now time threatens to take her memory from me as well, for time dulls all things, even the greatest of loves. It seems worthless now, her sacrifice, now when my son is dying, dying because of the passing of time. I remember her now only when the scent of jasmine fills the cool night air, that in itself is an unpardonable sin. The feel of her touch, the color of her eyes, her dazzling smile, exist now only on the photograph of her which is slowly starting to fade, until only faint hues remain there where once was a glittering rainbow. I look down at the photographs spread before me. They were of an open- air café and I had taken them for a case I am working on. My eyes are drawn to one particular shot, to the girl standing behind the person I was taking pictures of. Her long dark hair, her dazzling smile, the way she pouts at the person she is speaking with, is an exact replica of her. A second chance? Could it be? If the Powers would declare that the rest of my existence be filled with agony, I would gladly have accepted it, if only this dream were to become real, if only they would grant me this second chance. Outside, the sun slowly sets, the shadows in the Hyperion grow longer, night has come to the City of Angels. I stand and shrug on my coat as I stride out into the lobby, out the front door, my every step filled with purpose as I go in search of my second chance.