The Other Side

He walks through the door with the rain dripping from his hat like tears from his eyes. His shoulders feel heavy, like the weight of his wet jacket may actually cause him to collapse. The words he longs to say gone with the cool air as he closes the door. For him, the warmth of his home is too much in that instant. Just like fire melting ice, emotions rush to the surface. Like the storm outside, he feels only electricity, static, noise. It’s all too much and must come out. No thought given to consequence or perceptions, he falls to his knees and cries. He begs forgiveness, for help, for love… His tears met by silence at first. Blinding, deafening, alone.


She feels her heart skip a beat. Her breath is taken away with the turning of the door handle. Her tears suddenly dry upon her cheek. The words that, only moments ago, burned at her tongue, eager to come out, gone with the cool air as the door opens and closes. She feels the electricity, confused and yet not. Her heart cries out, and yet she is frozen. She feels the warmth of hope, feels the pull of love and she is consumed by desire… Not the desire of a sexual nature, but a deeper, more nurturing and loving kind. Her ears are suddenly filled with noise, but she can’t decipher the difference any longer and she finds it to be too much. She closes her eyes and feels the tears that begin to threaten. She is blinded, deafened and alone.