At Last A Life Novels & Stories

Tears brim his eyes and the last question comes out in a shaky breath. My tears stream down my face for the millionth time today. The round diamond sparkles spectacularly like the stars in the night sky. It's absolutely stunning. All the pain and suffering have led us to this moment. This moment in time where we can finally accept that nothing will stand in our way and nothing will ever tear us apart. We are it for each other forever. "Yes," I whisper. The End

The elders exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of what to make of the scandal unfolding before them. "Who says I'm without proof?" I smirked, pulling out a digital recorder. "Here's the juicy bit of Derick and Jasmine's midnight rendezvous from last night. While they played me for a fool, the kid they thought was mine was burning up with fever all alone in his bed!"

It’s funny how I never realized the importance of Elara in my life until it was too late—funny how I never allowed Cora to call me Dad, but that’s all I’m dying to hear now. Just one last time. One last time, I wish my daughter would call for me. One last time, I wish my wife would wait for me to come home. One last time, I wish we all could sit together and have a happy meal. One last time, I wish I could kiss my wife and make sweet love to her. Too bad I can’t have these things anymore. No matter how badly I wish I could turn the clock and go back in time to when Elara and Cora used to see me as their whole world, it’s just not possible anymore.

I spent the first 2 days on the island drinking, smoking the island grown ganja, ugly crying, and when I reach exhaustion sleeping for 10 hrs. Something I hand done in years because I need to keep everything perfect for Sam so he’d love me. I’d called all 3 of my kids this morning, Damien reassured we that everything was fine. Turns out he had contacted Lena this past weekend and Lena had arranged for me to attend a retreat of the coast of Croatia that was geared towards helping executives decompress from the stress of high demand jobs. An executive I was not and I love my job so I don’t find it stressful, but I wasn’t going to complain and knew I was in much need of intense therapy.

The partner for the Northreach project was a Korean company, and she went as the interpreter. "The aurora was on the last day, after the project ended. The whole team went together--" "You don't have to explain." I pried his fingers off my wrist. "I sent you the agreement. Read it and reply." I turned to leave. "Mara." I stopped, but did not look back. "You said you'd only love me in this lifetime." I closed my eyes. "Preston, you said that too." I pushed the door open and walked out.

*** Late that night, Mom went home. She sat alone in the living room for a long time. Then she went to Sadie's room and quietly opened the door. Sadie was asleep. Mom stood by the bed, staring at her. She pulled up Sadie's blanket and smoothed her hair. Then she crossed to the desk and started going through Sadie's backpack. That's when she found it. A pink behind-the-ear hearing aid, with a tiny 'VV' engraved on the side. Vienna's hearing aid.

All the blood-stained memories of Manhattan drifted away with the cool evening breeze, left forever in the ruins of a life I would never return to. THE END

Inside, four souls who had crossed hell, blood, pain, escapes, and redemption finally found peace. It wasn’t the end of the story. It was the first page of a new chapter—written not with blood, but with free, deep, and entirely chosen love. The Last First Time. And it would be the best of all the times to come after.

"The elders were right. You can't be Luna. Please move out of my place right now. I'll explain everything to the elders." Aurelia's mind went blank at his words. The only thought in her head was that the ceremony couldn't be canceled. She had waited so long and done so much to earn her place as Luna. She couldn't just let it slip away. In a panic, she grabbed Caspian's arm tightly. "No, Caspian, you can't cancel the ceremony! Why are you doing this to me? Is this about yesterday? Fine, I promise I won't have Mr. Tarantino apologize to me anymore. Let's continue with the marking ceremony, okay? I can't live without you!"

ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀɪɢʜᴛ sᴜɴ sʜɪɴᴇ ᴛɪʟʟ ɪ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ʟᴀsᴛ ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴍʏ ʟɪғᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴍʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴀɴ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ɪ ᴄᴀʟʟ ɪᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ