It's Different This Time

by Joss Richard

A voice that you can feel throughout your veins. A voice that you never forget.

The thing about lightning in a bottle is that it’s a fleeting moment in time, a spark that’s rare and special…but it’s also impossible to re-create.

The reminder of our closeness, our bodies molding into each other, sticks to my memory like nicotine, but I try to overcome my withdrawal.

When I open the door, I hear a mellow jazz mix playing and get a whiff of something delicious. I imagine this is what a home feels like, with people waiting for you inside, wondering how your day went. A place that feels permanent. A place you can’t wait to come back to.

“Why were you scared?” “You know why,”

I didn’t realize I wasn’t, but I’m alive again.

“It’s different this time,”

It’s not anything flashy or performative, because it’s not a confession. It’s not a declaration. We’re simply saying out loud what we’ve both always known. What we’ve been showing each other for years.

“Don’t you know by now that it’s you? It will always be you.”