The watcher
A dark, musty corner called for him. There he would spend his night, the flicker of his eyes illuminating the room in his own way. Such dither dather, to and fro, hello my dear, don’t give her your fear. Once that life had sought him, but with the passing of the years things had changed. Things always change, that is their way. He remembered the turmoil those dusty eyes gave. The sublime gradients, the hard with the soft, the light with the dark. He watched the young, happy in their moments, blissfully unaware of their impulse for the future… for tonight at least.
Youth is always bitter sweet. Not enough is known to be happy, but more than enough is felt for pleasure. The moment is always powerful in the younger years, but the future has a way of promising more. Those he watched tonight were living their moments, while he was living his. Each moment nothing more than a second, yet somehow spread across countless more. Imprinted forever if the mind deemed worthy.
A familiar yet distant feeling rose weakly within him as he watched her. Thankfully tempered by the years, but still detectable. Her young eye caught his old one and she smiled fully and warmly. He chuckled slightly, nodded his head and looked elsewhere. He remembered when the time came in his life to decide what was best. He gladly laid aside those many blissful faces, smooth lines and forgettable urges. He knew at that time that they were easy things to discard. He knew he had something grander.
They met in this bar many years ago, the walls and the shadows were different, but the youth was the same. They sometimes returned, when they could, to remember that moment, that one moment, which caused the greatest change in both their lives. They didn’t realise it at the time.
He buried her a year ago in the pouring rain. The minister’s words should have consoled him, but words are words and moments are moments. Neither could have helped him that day. He remembered the rain. He remembered the grass. He remembered the dirt. He remembered cold, wet hands on his shoulder. He remembered her.
An apprehensive young lad approached the warm smiling beauty.
He remembered some of their worthy moments, sipped his beer and smiled.