Last Light

by Claire Kent

There’s a defense mechanism built into the human soul. You get to a point where loss is so immense that the part of you that hurts when something dies simply shuts down. You go numb.

“I have a man,” I say without thinking. “She’s got a man.” The voice follows on the heels of mine. Lower. Gruffer. Louder. Travis.

Sometimes we gotta cry ’bout the smaller things because the big things are just too big.”

When you’ve lost almost everything, you take hope wherever you find it.

He knows me. He cares about me. He immediately recognized that I was upset and wanted to do something about it. It’s nice. To have someone in your life like that.

It matters—even at the end of the world. Doing right by the people you love. I’ll hold on to him tonight. And I’ll let him go tomorrow.

If you love someone, you better hold on to them as tight as you can.”