None of the things he’d been so upset about mattered. Not in the grand scheme of things. Only he hadn’t understood that. The lesson was yet untaught and unlearned, and his two teachers—grief and regret—yet waited for him. He wept as he relived the moment, wishing he could break the chain of causality, to step out of time and hug her and tell her he loved her and that the angst and anger were just a mistake. Too much stress, too much work, not enough sleep. But he couldn’t. Events unfolded as they always had, and causality condemned him to relive his sins.
