If We Disappear Here

by Mindy Hayes

You never know how much time matters until there is none, until time ceases to exist.

“What’s your favorite book?” Ledger looks at me like I have antlers growing out of my head. “You must not be a big reader.” “Why do you say that?” “Because an avid reader can’t pick just one favorite.”

Finding a kindred spirit is a rare thing in life.

We’re not brittle. He cannot take our resilience.”

“If this is the end, I’m grateful it was you with me and not someone else. It could’ve been anyone else, but it was you, Ledger. It was you. And that’s the one beautiful thing in this endless nightmare.”

It’s time we accept our fate and cherish what life we have left together. “I know. Me, too. Maybe in another life.” He wets his lips, looking into my eyes with residual heat. “In another life.”

He whispers into the void. “I still love you in this life, Goldie.”

He’s the moon at midnight, the lifeboat in a hurricane. He’s the reason we’re still breathing. He’s home.

One breath, I love you. Two, and goodbye.

“Needing freedom doesn’t require being trapped. Your wings just need more room to breathe, and you can’t do that if they’re clipped.

With affection and devotion and hunger, I hand my heart over. Because more than she is mine, I am hers.