One Chance

This has to be my best work. This has to have the heart and the soul of every breath I’ve ever taken. It is these few words that I put down on this piece of paper that must do what every other word could not. These words must show her.

He swore as he tore the paper from his old-fashioned typewriter. He never liked writing on computers, spell-check always pointed out his flaws.

I just have to ask her for one chance, one chance to show her the man I am and the man I can be. If she will give me one chance to be a better man than any other.

Another mumbled curse drifted through the air of his apartment as one more ball of paper hit the floor near the already overflowing trash can. He put it across the room behind his chair for this exact reason. Throwing things is always more gratifying over a distance.

I know that it’s right and I think she does too. She won’t let herself let go, of the past and of that guy that’s always around that isn’t right for her.

The flick of a well used Zippo lighter breaks the silence left by the temporary inaction of his typewriter as he lights one more cigarette. He prefers the permanence of the Zippo to the disposable nature of the disposable lighter, the way they carry history.

Damn it! Why can’t I make this sound right? I’m a writer, I write, so why do my words fail me now? I just need to tell her how I feel.

Another drag from his Camel Light was accompanied by a slow pull from the flask of whiskey that was his typewriter’s constant companion. A simple silver hip flask that he had engraved with his initials, it too carried a history, his history.

That’s it; I’ll write her a story. It will be just obvious enough for her to pick up on it but subtle enough for no one else to. This I can handle, write her a story, show her what she means to you.

As the crank fed the fresh sheet to paper through the typewriter, he snuffed out his cigarette and glanced down just in time to see the top edge of the paper appearing. Like the sun coming up on the horizon, this page would cast first light on what would be.

“I’d like to ask for one chance. A chance to be better than any man before me has. A chance to show you the amazing woman I see when I look at you. A chance to be everything you need and all that you could hope for. A chance to say something I’ve wanted to say since the day I met you…”