You & Me

by Tal Bauer

There was a flicker, like a candle flame sputtering, in Emmet’s cheek. He held my stare, and for the first time in I-couldn’t-remember-how-long, my son smiled at me.

A sketch wouldn’t be able to hold this man, I thought. He’d burst right out of the page if I tried.

I wanted every minute, every second, I could get with Landon. I wanted to be by his side even if I wasn’t holding his hand, even if we weren’t together and never would be, because having him in my life was a million times better than my life without him.

Hey, Google, I thought. How do you break your own heart first so someone else can’t?

“You’re the man I dreamed about all those years ago when I was struggling to find myself. You’re him. You’re the man I’ve been searching for my whole life.” He pressed my hand to his cheek and closed his eyes as his tears started to fall.