It was merely a few seconds, yet long enough for me to realize what I'd just sacrificed. The searing pain of heartache soon fades to cool disinterest, heightened by years of separation.
He'd never know the agony I felt briefly flash across my soul. How could I tell him of the sympathy I harbor no longer?
I've had this life for so long, I won't lose it, not even for my son. I'm no longer a father, and he is now an orphan. Malcolm is gone, I am the Piper, the Boy Who Will Never Grow up; I am Peter Pan.