Written

by: Eric Franzo

Heart

The glow felt soft on her chest an orb of light pulsing with the life-giving rhythm of steadily beating heart. She passed her hand through the dim light, but couldnt manage even the slightest waver. A second hand reached out to gracefully stroke the orb with soft fingertips. This hand she knew. This person she knew. Brighter than any light in her life, his soul was perfectly entwined with hers, like two tender flames dancing on one candle in a brightly burning union. The orb flickered at his touch. As if prompted by an invisible conductor, the breeze abated its drafty blow and the decaying leaves halted their autumn-wind tumble. Time itself held its breath. Only the warm rays of the sun managed to massage their half clothed bodies, each ray vying for attention, but the two had only thoughts for each other. His determined face met her painfully avoiding eyes and placid demeanor. She held her emotions in a single frame, not allowing the scene to jump ahead even for a moment. It had to be this wayshe desperately needed it to be this way. Her chin lifted at the touch of his hand, forcing her eyes to meet his as nearly subdued shivers set the scene in motion once again. Like a tide forcing its way up the shore, small tears worked their way from her core to glisten on her increasingly wet and sun darkened face. A single droplet clung to her chin as if holding on for its watery life, unable to bear the inevitable earthy plunge. Its descent pierced the growing light and caused a bolt of pain to ripple through her chest. What seemed like a simple act caused her to coil over, her bones seemingly melting away, only to have the hard impact of ground reassure her of her own solidity. Fallen and on her knees, faint wisps of wind ruffled her thin dress, bringing with it an air of anticipation. To anyone looking on, they would have seen a heartless man standing solidly in place over a crippled woman. But he knew his touch meant littlehe knew what had to be done. Her face was painted with a deep palette of pain as she looked up at him. He held her stare while giving a brief nod. Words were meaningless here. Reaching out, he grasped the orbits shafts of light escaping through small cracks in his grip. As he closed his eyes, the light grew in a pulsing wave that permeated throughout the sun soaked field, its brightness ever intensifying. She shut her eyes tightly as if flinching from the sudden beam of a flashlight. She stood frozen in place. An artist can prepare when painting a fantastical vista, and a grocer can ready vegetables and fruit for the coming day, but no such preparation could have made her ready for this. Reassuring whispers in the night settled them both for a time, but his sharply honed insistence made it clear that this was the way it was meant to bethe way it had to be. The brilliant light dissipated behind her eyelids and left only the comparatively dim blaze of the sun. As the world slowly crept into view, she surveyed the space around herself. Where there had been two just a moment ago, the wind now summersaulted through the air against a single body in the field. The orb had vanished, and like an extinguished flame, so to was he. Air rushed through her lungs with the feeling of first breatha new life.

If sacrifice is to willingly let go for the sake of another, then that is only part of the story. What he had gained was beyond any understanding. It was tangled up in the very core of existencea deep, mutual giving that surrendered fear and embraced love. In this field where the grass was tinged brown and the flowers wilted with waning life, she stood brimming with it. Find more at: www.boundlessriver.com