Last Touch

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to clear his mind he sought to convince himself there was really something he could do to wipe away the guilt. He hung his head in weariness and looked down at the hand he held, at the hand he needed to hold.


How slender and frail that hand was.

The glow that had always been in her soul was flickering, yet still had the power to warm him. He leaned closer. Unexpected memories flooded his mind and momentarily blocked the pain and anger, and then just as quickly faded to the hurtful words thoughtlessly flung in the car, the accident, and, finally, her cries.

He tried to speak her name, but his voice failed.

Her eyes opened and a tear slid through crimson to quietly disappear into the chestnut hair that should have instead been feeling the breeze. Despite his broken promises, with a slender smile she granted him the one thing he could not bear to receive: forgiveness.

Faint pressure upon his hand became a whisper from her lips that seamlessly became her last breath, “I’m here...”

For a moment it seemed all the air in his lungs had been drawn away. He gasped, choked, and then coughed painfully. In desperation he squeezed her hand tighter, but for the first time she failed to reach out to him through her touch. The smiles, kindnesses, and love that were her essence in an instant became cruel, torturous reminders. A lifetime of control and reserve collapsed and he covered his face with his hands as he realized that he’d just lost everything that mattered. He wept.

A scent that reminded him of her drifted past, but he knew that it was only a memory, and when he looked skyward through the colored trees the lowering clouds released their own burden, the rain first heard in the upper branches before stripping away the leaves and striking his face.

In the growing darkness he grappled with the realization that it was too late to reach out to her with his touch, for she had become the breeze and he had become the emptiness that he was before he met her.

- by Christina Hawthorne