Today is the start of NaNoWriMo.
Let’s see what it brings for Emarosa.
“(N)ever More”
The old piano reached its crescendo as she turned back toward the window.
No one was there. Of course not, no one was ever there. But still, no one was there.
There used to be so much more, or had it all been only in her memory?
Even so, if it lived on within her, then wasn’t it hers to keep?
Her fingers danced along the keys, a little slower than they used to be.
Time is seldom a kindness.
But no infirmity could hinder her grace.
Nothing would stop her from playing their song.
They had met as little more than children, and many years later parted all but the same.
One wanted the world on a string, one content to be strung along.
No great travesty befell them, no horror too ugly to speak.
It was only themselves they could not overcome.
She could be happy enough, it’s true.
There’s no shame at all in simply getting by.
Whether she strives for everything or nothing at all, the sun also rises.
She knows, because not a day goes by she doesn’t watch the horizon.
So the song she keeps playing on, not for any good reason but perhaps to fill the empty space.
For if she lets the walls fall down around her, then what are her hands for?
She pretends she doesn’t think about it, but she couldn’t ever let herself forget.
For if she lets go of what she loves, what is her heart for?
The old piano cascades echoes all around, from the window to the wall, and beyond.
And no one was there. Of course not, no one was ever there.