Part 5

He stared dead-eyed at the broken life. Numb didn’t even cover it, it was pain and hurt covered in darkness. Gutted and otherworldly, he stood within, without belonging, wondering who he was now. Within the veil of opportunities he considered recreating himself and starting anew. They would treat him for shock afterwards.

Part 4

She wondered whether she’d fallen asleep with a cigarette again. It wouldn’t have been the first time. The TV was on loudly when the fellow in his army uniform yanked her off the couch. She thought it was that recurring dream again, the one on that fiery night of bombs in London. He fooled her because of his helmet. She had to admit, that senior’s community in Lauderdale that her kids wanted her to move to was looking better and better.

Part 3

The job was his second wife, his mistress and lover. It encompassed his soul and entire being in a way that overwhelmed even he, to which he responded by maintaining the wall he built around it. It was impossible to explain it to her that it would never be easy to leave, though she pressured him constantly. This morning he rescued a little girl trying to get back in, and saving her made it all worthwhile. He could breath today and maybe attempt to describe the satisfaction.

Part 2

She still had sleep in her eyes and rubbed them in her childlike way, to ease the stinging, her other hand firmly grasping her big sister’s flannel shirt. The adults kept asking if she was okay. She was fine, but Bear wasn’t and who would get him out. It was easy to disappear, so she ambled down the alley toward the back door to get Bear.

Part 1

He gazed sleepily across the crisp sky with no certain plans. The clear morning was beautifully marked with streaks that lulled him lazily. The bite of the danger signaled him suddenly and made him snap up staring in disbelief out his window. It only took a moment , but he saw his chance to man up and step forward.

Yellow pants

He was confident but this time he stepped softly. His intuition said to be mindful. She was different and it was clear he shouldn’t damage things. Curbing his usual traits, the stubbornness, the goofiness, didn’t stifle him as much as he anticipated. Still, he felt relieved when she ran boisterously towards him, arms flailing, teeth grinning.

Dundas street photog

She had to admit, they were her family. The company had been her life, at times it sucked all she had to give and she had made life concessions and major compromises to be what she thought was a cog. But looking back, she saw how she contributed, the ink she poured was worthwhile, even if it felt like blood. Those years were the best.

The Madonna

It was everyone else’s expectation that she was born into. There were times when it flowed over her like a warm hug, her mind numb and accepting. But once she started to ask questions it was apparent no one had the answers nor wished to guide her towards them. When she decided to find them out for herself she felt enlightened and tried to return to the fold, but it was difficult to conform. She stepped out and journeyed toward the divine alone.

129. The team

It seemed easy. He had the feeling assimilating could change his world. It would be simple to become someone else, to just be a friendly face, not a rebel, not a challenger to any and everything. In truth, he was simply tired. He wanted to fit in for once in his life. If it didn’t make him happy, at least it would please his mother.

128. Fashion show legs

He was compelled to watch her move. It was a compulsion he no longer resisted. She knew and moved accordingly, full of moments and memories for him to lock away and recall when he wished. It was corny, they both knew it, but it felt true to them and was only one of the tethers that bound them.

127. Nail place

It embarrassed him sometimes. He understood all the reasons she did it, but it was impossible to explain it to anyone else. She raised him in this universe of hers, it was relentlessly fascinating to him, even now, with her collection of ephemera and him as her ultimate cheerleader. He knew this urge to walk away was fleeting. So he stood by her forever.

126. Kung Fu poster

It’s how she remembered her father. He was the perfect, infallible, ideal of a man. She couldn’t think of one moment where he wasn’t her world. It was the point that arrested life for her mother and her. They had a complete inability to move on from his memory. But move on they would, in a way that was unexpected to them both.

125. Queen street sign

He knew that only a keen eye would perceive it. The guilt of his fault was done and he couldn’t take it back. It had caused detrimental, rippling effects and had paralyzed his mind with the secret knowledge. He had never lied about it, and that fact helped him carry on, it was his under-the-radar behavior that went unnoticed. By the time he admitted to it, no one even remembered.

124. Happy kids truck

He carried his heavy heart wherever he went. Vibrant memories once so easily recalled were lost in the shadowy corners of his mind. He started to depend on false ideals to retrieve him from the depths to which he had become accustomed. A momentary smile, even a faked one, would propel him through the day. He grimaced for all to see. Then he met her and it came naturally.

123. Couple on street

The change was imperceptible. Unspoken between them, their thoughts crossed and converged. What was a potential connection was now an absolute attachment. To say whether love would come was difficult, they both felt it germinating but their hindrances detracted them from admitting it, to themselves or one another. And so the dance began.