A moment in time

Naturally it came down to this; the crunch of tire on loose gravel, the hollow echo of the door bell and the engine roaring off all came to pass before the dainty tea cup had left my lips and settled back onto its chipped matching saucer. In that fleeting moment when a clear divide is drawn between the ‘before’ and ‘after’, one thing is to be told; when the two ultimate emotions, love and fear, meet in equal intensity, far from the expected explosion, an eerie calm prevails that wraps itself around you; a calm that makes every sensory experience a breathtakingly intense one – I had never fully appreciated the intricate workmanship on my hand-me-down china, gentle blue strokes that lost and then found each other again. As I rose slowly, the golden rays that slanted through the window bathed me in their Midas touch. The front door creaked open at my gentle tug letting in not only the cooling breeze that was gone too soon, but also the momentary glimpse of the black beat-down truck as it careened wildly around the corner, probably mirroring the onslaught of self-destructive thoughts playing about in my sister’s head. She couldn’t control them, she couldn’t control the truck and she could not control her life.  One month clean. I wondered when I would see her again as I picked up my baby niece and held her to my chest, wishing almost fervently that with each beat of my heart, she would feel the love I had for her.