Lost in Time

by A.G. Riddle

That was her point: we just have to accept that sometimes things are going to be hard for a while. If we’re strong enough—if we hold on long enough—things will get better. Every year, this hurt we feel is going to get a little better. I promise you.”

Watching someone you love lose their health has an effect on a person. It teaches you lessons no human should ever have to learn. And could never forget.”

He realized then what a powerful source of strength a child in danger could be. Nothing gave a parent superpowers like knowing their child needed them and that no one else could help them.

That was the way of the world, he thought: you give it your all; sometimes it’s enough, sometimes it’s not, and sometimes, the tide carries you in.

In those long years, it had felt as though the universe tilted, and he couldn’t get his footing. In those years, he felt buried by the events of his life, shrouded in smoke from the wreckage of the loss, waiting for the next eruption, for a burning hot rock to fall on him, or life’s next monster to maul him out of earthly existence.

There was no single meaning of life—there was only the meaning of your life.

In a sense, it was the thing Adeline had most wanted in life: a second chance to be with her mother, as a young adult, almost as peers, sharing an experience that was special to both of them.

Adeline, however, was there to see her mother holding her infant form, the glow on her face, the twinkle in her eyes. It was the happiest thing she had ever seen.

She was doing what she wished she had done as a child. Back then, Adeline had always assumed her mother would get better. That it would all pass. Losing her had been unimaginable. That’s part of why it had hit her so hard.

In the weeks before, Adeline had clung to this time with her mother. What she saw now made her wish for the opposite: an end to her mother’s suffering. That was an inflection point she couldn’t appreciate in her younger years. But it hit her now like the force of a train.

sometimes life gives you problems you can’t solve today. That’s what tomorrow is for. And that’s why you keep going.”