1
"My diamond's clouded over where it used to shine like light, 2
And the day keeps running faster, 3
Into the arms of night..."4
Lara slowly returned to real life from the memories that had taken over her thoughts. After all this time she was still amazed at how easily they came flooding back. Mostly now, they brought a smile to her face as she remembered some fun time, a secretly shared joke or a celebration. But there were the sad ones too - of the worst period of her life, now almost six years in the past. Of pain she had thought she would never survive and heartbreak she had been certain would kill her. 5
For a long time she had felt that she had lost control of her own life, as one terrible event followed another. The days had flown faster and faster and she had barely felt able to keep up in her devastation. Each harrowing day was followed by a night. Nights of fear and frenzy, torn by racking sobs and tears smothered in pillows when at last she was alone and could drop the guard she wore by day for the sake of those close to her. So that they would not know exactly how deep her wounds were and perhaps not suffer as much. 6
"The stitches on the tapestry say, 7
"Everything in time, 8
Will find it's way home again," 9
But I'm tired of crying..."10
When sympathetic voices kept telling her that things would soon start looking up, that it would become easier, that she could start all over again, she nodded mutely while she inwardly shook her head, and wordlessly asked them how the hell could they be so sure. She could not put her thoughts and feelings into words for anybody to hear, so she kept them bottled up inside her heart and her head. 11
To this very day, she could not pinpoint the exact moment, or day, or even month, when all started changing. Perhaps it had been when she found herself able to open up slightly to a therapist, an outsider, someone absolutely uninvolved. Beth didn't sympathize or judge, she simply listened and rarely asked questions. 12
Slowly, over time, Lara began to realize that it was indeed becoming ever so slightly easier to deal with and that she was again at times smiling spontaneously, for no specific reason. That although they suffered terrible hardships, the future still held the tiniest bit of promise. And that she could well start a new life, if that was what she wanted for herself. Although her tears would never be exhausted, she was tired of crying. 13
"No Second Chances 14
Don't knock on my door 15
There won't be any answer 16
I won't be here no more... 17
This house we had together 18
Might still be in its place 19
But the rest of this is much too hard to face, 20
There'll be No Second Chance..." 21
It was not a momentous occasion celebrated with fanfare, but she picked up the pieces and steadily began rebuilding. Almost everything had changed - they moved away and made a whole new circle of friends. It was a brand new life, totally different from what she had had. And she loved every minute of it. 22
When, about a year ago, she was unexpectedly presented with a vague opportunity of possibly getting at least something back of what she had lost and given up, Lara was immensely surprised at herself. Deep inside herself she suspected that it was what she had been waiting for to happen all along. But instead of the happiness and excitement she had expected, when she came face to face with the situation, she in fact felt very little at all. Almost as if being offered candy that she had no taste for. 23
She took time off for some serious introspection and self-examination. And came to the joyous conclusion that she had dealt, in her own manner, with the events of the past and put them solidly behind her - delegated them to the history books of her life. She was free from it, and she knew now for certain that the past would have no second chance. 24
"Lovely moonlit hours we spent 25
Walking on the beach, 26
We'd gaze up at the stars, 27
I swear they were in our reach..." 28
Now, as she sat high on a huge boulder, watching a spectacular sunrise over the calm sea, Lara remembered vacations of many years gone by: Sitting around campfires in secluded areas away from so-called civilization; walking hand-in-hand on moonlit beaches, gazing at stars close enough to pick from a midnight sky; dripping ice-cream cones in amusement parks; sweltering hot summerdays spent by the swimmingpool with laughter, fun and games. 29
"But time... it went on, 30
Minutes... they ran too fast. 31
Like you they were gone... 32
Into the past...." 33
As she stood and stretched, and greeted the sun, Lara felt a river of expectation surge through her whole being. That was her past, and she had few regrets. And ahead of her stretched the future... waiting to be explored on a journey of enjoyment. 34
She turned and walked back to the cottage amongst the dunes, planning a sumptuous breakfast. For two.35
Author notes
Lyrics: No Second Chance by Blackmore's Night
A contest entry
- Strong Women Protagonists by LaBelle.
100 points, ended December 28, 2006, 15 entries
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think? Please comment!
Comments
1 - 16 of 16
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This was good! I'm a little confused about the ending, though. The whole story made it sounds as if she was going through a divorce...did she find someone new? I guess that's open for the reader to decide, which is cool. Nice job.
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Excellent
This was really good and especially the way you managed to combine the story with poetry... Well done! Very well done! -
Nice work here, I liked the short stanzas in this story, thank you for entering my contest.
Irilis -
Nice story. I am glad it has a happy ending...Of course, they say if the ending isn't happy then it isn't 'the end.' ^_^
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wow this is so awesome! i really like this.
thnks so much for entering this into my contest.
wow... maybe i should go read the thesaurus,
and rewrite this!
i wish you the beast of luck!
~Alexia~
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Wonderful, Brilliant, AWESOME!!!
Lacyte, I know this is long after you wrote it, But I MUST say that I love it to bits. You really are a very talented writer, and I admire each and every piece of your work. Keep on writing, you have my support as best I can give you!!! *huggles* you really write well, this story sucked me in, and yes as you know I'm also still fighting, and I hope that together we will have our holiday on the beach
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This was wonderful! I like the entire thing, the feeling that you don't know everything that has happened but you still feel the story is complete...! Its hard for an author to do that without scaring off the reader and confusing him to death...! lol, alright, thanks for entering!
Love,
Katy
~*liquidlullaby*~
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WOW this was an amazing story! You are an incredibly talented writer and I can't wait to read more of your excellent work! Great job and good luck in the contest
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yay
Amazing. I find a lot of depth to it and the lines just sucked you right in! Sorry for all of your pain as well... keep writing and venting.
Mech
*_~ -
This is fabulous! I love the way you have woven the lyrics in with the storyline. This has pulse and intensity and vibrancy. I love the creativity I see flowing through this. I am very impressed. I like your style. Good luck in the contest.
♥ Kimberly -
Hi Kyla, and thanks for the comment and compliment. And although I didn't start out writing it as 'my' story, it did sort of end up that way. I guess that's because this sort of thing happens so often, it's universal. But no... I'm still waiting for my vacation on a beach where I can watch the sun rise over the sea *huggles*
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I remembered what I forgot to say.
I'm so sorry that you had to go through so much pain!!! You are my hero for being so strong!
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Leonora... Amazing, again! Heartwrenching, simply heartwrenching! I love the style (the integration of the lyrics). The whole time you had me rooting for Lara, and when she stood up and was strong, I said you go girl! You did a wonderful job of writing something that got me emotionally involved...
It IS you, isn't it?
Amazing job, as usual. Please keep it up!
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This is wonderful!
Is it about you?
Great job once again
~Sarah -
oooo i like this. i really love the addition of the song lyric, in all the right places. well done!
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That was really cool. I love how you've combined it with a song. It really hit something with me... The positivity of it was really good. It wasn't some mushy unrealistic story about someone getting their fairytale ending, but learning to cope and move on in their life. I really liked it. Great job.
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