The End

I see her, the face of my lover.
I feel her, her silken skin under my touch.
I hear her, the voice of an angel.
I reach out…….

Rain. I love rain. Somehow, it feels cathartic. Cleansing. I am getting wet right now, but I don’t mind, I’m growing cold, but I don’t mind. It feels…..nice, as if my worries are fading away….. And suddenly, I think of my immediate past…….

I remember that fated night, I remember seeing her sitting at the bar, her dress clinging to her body, her lovely face and her eyes, alight and shining with mischief and intelligence, almost like she knew a joke no one else did. I was captivated. And when she went to the stage and began to sing, I was lost…….

Now why am I thinking of that night? Damn, I’m cold……..

A siren, with her beautiful voice….. I was rapt with attention. I was falling…. I went near and introduced myself, asked her out for a drink. She laughed and demurred, she said she had a pressing engagement, but thanked me for the drink. As she left the bar, I followed her with my eyes as she exited the place….. And suddenly I remembered: I forgot to get her name. Idiot.

I began haunting that place, hoping to catch a glimpse of my siren again. Every night, I waited, hoping, praying. And then I saw her again….

Our eyes met….

And Zeus smote man with his thunderbolts, and Odin struck the world with his spear…..

A slight smile curved her lips as she saw me at my table. Gesturing to the band, she walked over, while launching into a sultry rendition of “ The look of love”…..

Damn. Why these thoughts? Suddenly my knees feel weak…. And my arms feel heavy and numb….

That was where it began. Flowers. Cards. Little things that made her laugh, like that damn ugly stuffed pig he won for her during one date at the county fair. Or the time they made a mess of her apartment kitchen while cooking dinner. Gadding about town, taking in the sights they only looked at, but never really saw before…..


My chest is on fire. The numbness is spreading and my vision is fading. Dammit, what’s happening to me?

I remember the first time we kissed, the storm that raged outside her apartment that night. I remember the confused and sad look on her face as we broke apart. I thought back to the tears in her eyes. And I remembered the sadness as she told me her secret…..


She told me of her husband, of the troubles she faced. He was a cop, a corrupt man, evil and amoral. She told me of the beatings, of the sadistic ways he took her. Of the schemes he forced her to participate in.

I look at my left arm, and a trickle of blood falls….Shot? I was shot?

I thought of our love-making, of the pain-pleasure we felt. Of our questing hearts and hands. I resolved to get to the bottom of the problem. I was a cop. I would confront her husband. I would bring him down. I would save her, and myself. I would save us both…..

Flashing lights and police sirens. I gaze down at my right hand and see that I still hold my gun…. Then I see her , tears in her eyes, and she’s mouthing words I cannot hear….

I walk to her. I drop my gun and lurch forward…I cannot feel my legs anymore. She moves toward me, and I collapse in her arms. She gazes at me and tells me “Please forgive me.”

And I say, just before the light claims me “I love you.”