Something Like Thunder (Something Like, #6)

by Jay Bell

“To know love is to know loss.” The podium Marcello stood behind did little to conceal his bulk. Like the audience he faced, he was dressed in all black, his expression somber. To his left and right were a number of Kelly’s photos, which had been enlarged and placed on easels for the audience to see. In one Zero was running across the yard, his feet barely touching the ground. The next image was of great contrast: Zero in the final days of his illness, his hind legs on a cart with wheels so he wouldn’t have to drag them around. Just before the unexpected had happened. A flowered wreath hung off the easel of this photo, causing Nathaniel to swallow painfully. “Love’s greatest challenge is not endurance. Nor is it fidelity or sacrifice. Love’s greatest challenge is recovery. A heart that has loved and lost is put through the ultimate trial. Failure means the unthinkable—never loving again. Success brings with it sweet redemption. Not a reprieve from the pain, but compensation in the form of discovery, the knowledge that love comes in infinite forms. All of them unique, all of them of equal importance. And yet, none an adequate substitute for the other. At times such as these, when faced with the end, it can be hard to be so visionary, to see light past the dark. For me especially, because let’s face it, I’m the one who has lost the most here.” He gestured at the photos on display: Zero, Kelly, and Nathaniel running together at the high school track. One of Kelly at the heigh...