The Dive

I hear her voice — cold, confident, final. The words lost in the tears. Our child. Red rimmed eyes meet red rimmed eyes. A door slams, two lives end.

Another door opens. My heart beats, then races, then leaps, then screams. I stand, frozen. Not frozen but waiting, waiting for disgust to catch up with terror. One step. Then all is chaos, hurricane force and absolute.

Thought retreats. What remains are wet lips and soft hands. In an instant I’m lost. I want to be lost! In her, in this moment, in the small death that comes before new life.

I gasp. Whiplash shock pulls me upright. The world spreads beneath me, the ground rushes towards me. Chaos settling into perfect clarity. Beauty, warm and lingering.

Like a glance. A smile. Like words exchanged, punctuated by laughter. Like a chance meeting that changes everything. Like…

I land.