For every stoplight I didn’t make. Every chance that I did or didn’t take. All the nights I went too far. All the girls that broke my heart. All the doors that I had to close. All the things I knew that but didn’t know. Thank God for all I missed. Cause it led me here to this. – Darius Rucker, This (2010)
He met her at a coffee shop. She seemed to be the perfect one. They started talking nonstop and they wanted nothing more than to spend every second together. Things seemed perfect. Their relationship grew. They lived together. They ate together. They did everything together, but they were no longer together. They no longer felt the need, the desire, and the passion to spend every moment together. Instead they did it because it was what they knew. It was the life that they had made. It was who he thought they should be who he thought he was.
Unhappy, heartbroken, afraid and feeling helpless. They sat at the restaurant. A drink in his hand to give him the courage that he otherwise felt he might be lacking. Was this the right decision? He wasn’t sure. He wanted to be, but he wasn’t. Tears poured down his face as they slowly streamed down hers as well. It had finally come to an end. He was the one pulling the plug on them, on their life, on any chance for their future.
Time. Time heals all, time makes it better. He kept wondering if that was true. He kept telling himself that it must be true. All he wanted was for her to be happy, for him to be happy. It had been days. The days had turned to months, and the months into years. He had moved on. He had grown up. He had met someone else. She treated him well. He felt it was time to start a new beginning.
That beginning turned into a future. That future turned into his life. All of the doubt that he had had, all of the pain he had to face had led him here. Led him to this. Through all the uncertainty and choices he had made it here. No regrets. He had found happiness. Through all the pain, the tough decisions, the uncertainties and unexpected factors of life he had found it. He had finally found it. This. He never imagined he would. He remembered times when it was dark. When he felt like he was drowning. But now this. This happiness. This life. This future. He was now able to live. Live in the moment. Cherish life. Cherish what he had. Cherish this.
I liked the repetition in the opening paragraph. I felt that it really emphasized the stark reality of the situation, they do everything together but they are no longer together. Furthermore it really paints the picture of a relationship that has run its course. I think it is a tragic concept. However, it is an idea that the reader can relate too. Anyone has been connected to a bad break up or a relationship that has run its course can sympathize with the characters and this encourages them to read on. The opening line of the second paragraph also helps draw in the reader. Time, time heals all. It reminded me of a time when I was waiting to feel better about a problem. It reminded me of a time when I was frustrated and feeling that I wouldn’t stop feeling sad. I was curious to see how the character pulled through and worried that he might not pull through it all. When the character finds some else it provides relief for the reader. I felt that the story felt very real that it was full ideas that were capable of reminding the reader of their own life experiences and this kept you very in tune with what the main character was going through.
ReplyDeleteThe voice in this piece seemed rather detached? I wasn’t sure if you did that on purpose, but the speech was very short and seemed very distant from the characters in the story. The way their relationship was described in the first paragraph imitated the static nature of their relationship. I think overall the text did a great job of doing just that, reflecting the characters. I liked the line “A drink in his hand to give him the courage that he otherwise felt he might be lacking”, because it told the reader more about the character, besides the fact that he’s in a relationship that he doesn’t want to be in. I love the theme/idea of time, and it was obvious that time plays a big part in the story….. almost, to me at least, a seemingly third character? Parts of the story, i.e. certain lines seemed a little cliché; but I also think that those lines were effective because this story is such a common one that everyone could relate to. The fact that the characters didn’t have names added to that concept. Great Job!
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