So Close And Still So Far

"It's all going to better now," he murmured into my ear, his lips softly brushing my hair. I leaned into him, the heat of his strength seeping into my bones, the well of unshed tears threatening to spill.This, I thought, this is what it means to be truly happy. To be truly whole. All of my life I have searched for a feeling such as this and for so long it remained illusive. Suddenly a devestating thought occured to me. "But...but what of her? What of your other life?"

He smiled down at me gently, his dark head tilting to one side, the emerald green of his eyes full of promise.

"There is no one else. There is only you...only us. And nothing can ever keep us apart again. I have waited until the right time, just as I always promised you. You only needed to be patient and I knew that one day the stars would align and we would meet again." I believed him. I touched his face, I let him kiss me with all the time of empty years gone by. I never wanted to lose him. Please, don't let me lose him. Nothing could ever top the feeling of ethereal happiness which settled its misty arms around my soul.

A bump in the night.

And I awoke.

I was wrong when I said nothing could top the feeling of happiness in my dream. My soul screamed in protest at the fatal wound inflicted upon it. How could it have been a dream? I just knew it was real. I knew he had come for me and that my life would never again feel empty.I thought I would never feel the bereavement which settled like lead upon my chest.

The words of a song drifted through my head...

"So close and still so far..."

And countless tears wet my pillow.