Fiction Story #10 ("Glass")

1/10/11

Glass

It had been more than 35 years since he had seen her face the last time, but he recognized her instantly. A lifetime of living without her had crystallized her in his mind, and on more occasions than he cared to admit, even her memory had him smile.

They had been lovers for a short, passionate time. As they said, the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long – and their time had been as intense as it was brief. While they were together it was brilliant. They lit up the room wherever they went. Everyone could see it. But they could also see that it was not meant to last. She needed things he could not provide – not then. He was new to the world and it was new to him. He had a wanderlust that would not let him rest anywhere for long.

When they split, it was heartbreaking. They both cried, him for the first time in years, her for the last time for years to come. They knew something good was lost to them, but just how important this moment was, they would not fully understand for years. Something inside him died that day, and though he spent the next few decades traveling the glove, seeking adventure in every corner of the world, the thing he longed for most in this world he never found.

He wandered, not even knowing he was searching. Friends and family worried that he was running from something. Always on the move, it was easy to see why they’d jump to that conclusion. For years even he didn’t know what he was looking for. Not even he knew what he was running towards…

And then one day, he came around a corner and there she was, in an evening dress, hair still done up from the night before. She was covered in glass shards from the window above. Here lay the broken remains of the woman he once loved, and in that moment he felt his heart break again like the glass surrounding her. He had investigated more than a thousand homicide cases over the last three decades, but this was the first time he had ever cried at a crime scene.