I Dreamed a Lifetime

by J.D. Lewis

The two of us, alone in a frozen world.  Alone in our little house of wood and glass.  The light from our home stretched out until it was swallowed by blank and hungry darkness. Tundra stretched out as far as the eye could see; nothing but snow and ice.  A place frozen in time, too.  No sun or stars above us to mark the passage of the days and weeks.

Your hair was as red as the fire that warmed our hearth, but the flames were cold compared to the heat of your skin.  The light reflected in your eyes in a wild dance, like the ones we shared when you would drag me to my feet.  The feeling of your fingers laced with mine was maddening.  Your touch burned unbearably, but the thought of losing that warmth left me clinging for my life as you spun us around and around.

We never spoke, but we sang.  Wordless songs of joy and sorrow.  Every emotion was shared with bombastic volume or aching whispers.  There was so much to say, so much to feel, in spite of the void that surrounded our humble home.  Each new day was met with triumphant bellows, though no sun rose to greet us.  Each night, our bed was draped with dulcet murmurs, wishing we might dream the dark was full of stars.

You always woke up before me.  I would open my eyes to find yours, aglow despite the darkness of our room.  While we slept, the cold crept through the wooden walls and frost formed on the top of our sheets.  Then you would kiss me.  Fire radiated from my lips to every inch of my body and then out as my meager frame couldn't contain your love.  The room would light, the frost would thaw, and the cold would flee from our home.  No sunrise could ever compare.

Days and weeks.  Months and years.  Time blurred as it rushed by us.  The weight of age pulled me down.  My joints would ache.  My hair turned as white as snow.  But you never changed.  You never diminished.  Perfect and radiant in everything you did.  As my time drew shorter, it was like you burned even brighter to light my way.

As I lay in our bed, dying at last, you sat by my side.  Pristine.  Still no words could fly from my mouth, but the force of our love rattled the walls and shattered the windows.  The darkness drew in around us, desperate and hungry to take me at last.  That deep emptiness watched as my ember burned low.  But your flame grew with each passing moment, and the shadow trembled in fear.  My last breath escaped and was engulfed by the fire of your aurora.  And all was light.

BIO: J.D. Lewis is a newly reinvigorated writer. He is currently a student at UHCL and plans on pursuing a MFA.