Brief Encounter

10
In two bursts of light
The light blinked twice more and then there was darkness. A
tidal wave of velvet black. It immersed us and swallowed us
whole. Fading memories in two final images.
During the first burst of light, she stood there with the vase in
her hands. There was single yellow tulip standing erect in the
middle of the vase. She looked to her left and her eyes grew
wide with surprise. Her lips were slightly a part in the
beginnings of a gasp. I noticed her hands. She had long
fingers and brown skin. She had wrinkles of her knuckles and
dirt under her nails. She gripped the vase tightly making the
tendons on the back of her hands and wrists protrude.
In the second burst of light, she was gone. Left in her place
was a wooden chair. The vase with tulip placed in the center of
the seat. The flower hung limply and I watched as a petal
began to loosen. The petal began to fall to the floor. As it
made its descent, the light vanished. In my mind, the petal will
forever be falling.
Like a reverse Polaroid, these images move from clarity to
darkness. We are drenched in nothing now.