~ September Anniversary Project ~
Before Dawn
by Rose M
Being in her presence again was both exhilarating and excruciating. He wouldn’t trade being wounded by the sharp edges of proximity for his former isolation. His equilibrium had been disturbed, and now he feared that there was no going back. But what he feared was also his most desperate wish.
Moments after she finished reading the final words aloud, she reached out and laid a hand on his knee, thinking that he had fallen asleep. He had closed his eyes as the end neared to concentrate on the sound of her voice. The usual noise of the city was normally a welcome comfort to him, but tonight the void that it now filled in the absence of her voice was beyond bearing. The restlessness that she had soothed with her reading was rising once more. Separation was at hand again. He opened his eyes and was stunned and moved by the warmth in her gaze. I don’t know how to be without you, he thought.
He needed more than a memory.
They both stood up reluctantly.
This kind of attachment had nearly destroyed him before. From that point on, survival had required a certain measure of distance. What would become of him now if he allowed himself to hope? Was it courage that would enable him to reach for her? Was it hope that would not be repressed? Or was it simply resignation?
For the first time in months, he stopped fighting. He moved toward her and folded her into a sudden embrace, and she astounded him by returning it, unhesitating and unguarded.
He didn’t have a choice. On his lips, an admission of surrender whispered so quietly it was lost on her ears on this night. Spoken by him for the first time as he stood in her arms, it was a prayer that would be oft repeated and echoed in years to come. Only three words.
“Don’t let go.”