And The World Began Turning Again

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In a filled restaurant. The hub in a small town, on a Friday night. I looked across the restaurant, and saw him sitting with a group of people. A sudden intake of breath. My stomach fell to the floor, when his head turned in my direction.

Glancing at each other. Offering ourselves a moment of eye contact. In that moment, it was back again. In that fraction of a second, everything completely stopped. Which was fitting, as the memories had begun to flood back, washing over our eyes as the waves wash over a shore.

What an oddity it was to have one’s heart outside of one’s body. Standing there, across a room, facing each other.

Years had come and gone, others had come and gone. And still, it remained.

It was best said by Freud, who professed that “our beds are crowded.” Our beds filled with the ever-present ghosts of our past.

And the glance ended as abruptly as it had come. In a blink. Both of us looking away in denial. Both of us bringing our attention back to those at our tables. And the world began turning again.

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Written: September 20, 2015.