Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Evolution

What would you do if you had only three days? If the world was ending and you knew they were the last three days of everything you knew? Would you party like it was, well, like it was the end of the world? Make love non-stop to you husband? Toss your marriage and fuck a bunch of strangers? Read the bible? Pray for salvation? Think you could do anything to change what you have been told is inevitable? Three days and infinite choices.

But what would you do if you didn't know the world would end in three days? Wake up to your usual alarm, kiss your girlfriend as you both ran out the door, work a 12 hour day and meet her later for dinner? Cheap Chinese delivery? A crappy movie on TV, the news, some mundane emailing, and bed? The possibilities not even passing through your mind.

I had three days once. On a Monday evening, the man I loved got down on one knee and proposed marriage. He had waited 33 years to meet the woman of his dreams, and there I was, screaming at the top of my lungs and not caring that there wasn't a ring or that his words were uneasy instead of eloquent. I loved him in ways I didn't know existed. I loved his faults. And he mine.

We spent the next three days finishing moving in together, calling friends and relatives. Working. Taking the bus rather than a taxi after being lectured about saving money. Walking the dog. Dishes, trash, errands, bills, email, web, TV, news, bed.

On a Thursday afternoon, our world ended. Very suddenly and involving a very heavy bus. And we hadn't even danced.

9 comments:

  1. This is so terribly sad :'( But well-written.

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  2. Oh. How heartbreaking. That list of things you never got to do makes it the most poignant.

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  3. beautifully sad and executed. the emotional impact is well delivered.

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  4. Oh! How sad! You posed some great questions and had ample reason to do so. Very well written.

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  5. Sad story. The ending was like a punch in the gut. Most of us don't know when we have three days left. I bet our choices on how we spend our time might be a little different if we had the luxury of knowing.

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  6. Ouch! That's brutal. The Chinese food sounded good though. :-) Thanks for linking up.

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  7. How terrible. Those little details are what really bring the tragedy home. Nicely done.

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  8. wham! That ending hit me just like that bus...well done

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  9. oh my! how sad. We should treat everyday like it might be our last.

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