Forever and Always

I saw her there through the dimming light, a voice as clear as day.

"Come to me, my love, and hold me close."

I obliged, bearing my body close and interlacing my fingers with hers. The heat from her bosom warmed mine. Our lips caressed, the very concept of reality slipping away as my eyes shut briefly. Euphoria, adoration, sensation, those were all that mattered in this intimate moment. We pulled away briefly, allowing her warm eyes, green as the spring's first sun, to fill my world.

"You were gone far too long," she finally said, "I have missed your touch."

I smiled a lover's smile, my fast-fading remorse becoming replaced by a newfound devotion, a nostalgic reverence resurrected from the core of my being.

"What matters is I am here now, Love," I reply, "yours forever and always."

"Forever and always," she said, embracing me tenderly with a lilt of adoration in her voice.

The moment hung in the air like the sweet scent of flowers on a summer wind. Then darkness fell like a guillotine severing the dream from my mind and the sensation faded. She was gone.

I felt the blood course through my waking limbs as I willed myself awake. A bright red light stabbed my eyes from across the room as my alarm clock displayed its grim tidings to me.

3:00 AM

An acidic sigh escaped my throat as I turned to look at the empty side of the bed. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I found my picture frame standing upright on the nightstand. I rolled across the bed and grabbed the frame. I tenderly held it close as I saw her within it, a woman with a bright smile and green eyes. I hugged the picture close and wept a single tear as I remembered all the times she had come to me in my dreams and fled come the early morning.

"Forever and always."

----

My breath quickened as I saw him. It had been so long, our reunion was sweet like wine. As I stared into his dark brown eyes, I forgot everything else.

"Come to me, my love, and hold me close," I said, each word escaping my lips with utter bliss.

Without a moment's hesitation, he drew me close with a gentle but firm embrace. I clasped my fingers with his and welcomed the kiss. Everything in that moment was ecstasy. For a moment we parted with our bodies still intertwined.

I spoke, "You were gone far too long. I have missed your touch."

He smiled as he always had, full of boyish reverence and mature confidence. It pulled me toward him like gravity.

"What matters is I am here now," he whispered lovingly in my ear, "yours forever and always."

"Forever and always," I replied.

As I leaned in expecting another kiss, I found nothing except the dark abyss of the world between dreaming and waking. For a moment, I floated aimless and alone as I grasped for the dream as I had done many times before.

I immediately woke and grabbed the smartphone next to my pillow, the bright light of the lock screen stabbing my eyes. A tear welled in my eye.

Local Time 8:00 AM

Home Time 3:00 AM

I held the phone close for a minute, wondering if I should call. In that instant, various things assaulted my mind: embraces unshared, glances unmet, words unspoken. Several thousand moments fluttered by before I took any decision.

Then the resolution hit me. I opened my phone and dialed his number.

----

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