Imagine, if you can, being so in love that all you want to do is stare adoringly into the eyes of your paramour.
For all of eternity.
Eternity plus one.
The images were of a time long ago. Barely recognisable faces of people who wore time far more heavily than these early reproductions would suggest.
In the today light, that which was the modern now, the faces would need to update the images in order to pass border control. Pass muster.
Pressed almost nose to nose and separated by two tiny slivers of glass, the snapshots were of a lighthearted moment.
Together but apart, a shared instance that was permanent yet cut in half and locked in. Held firmly in place.
Held hostage.
The emotional turmoil of remembering happier times.
The sun shone bright on this cold morning. Spiderwebs were covered in dew. Half frozen and looking like giant snowflakes melting in slow motion.
He looked at her, square in the eyes, you can’t see a lot from a millimeter away. Just you try it. He caught a glimpse in his memory of that day. A fountain, coffee, nicotine. Happiness.
A pang of guilt tugged at the heartstrings. He’d not lived up to his early promises. Been a bit of a cad in all truth. Surly and selfish. He couldn’t turn away. Couldn’t hide his face.
She wanted to be anywhere but here.
Forced to stare at the reminder of all the bad choices she had made. The cobbles and the croissants, she could still smell the summer city air. She had danced in the streets, had walked barefoot. Yet still she had gone out in secret. Unfulfilled. Unhappy.
Never so far away from each other as when they were at their closest.
The locket was closed. Clasp caught tightly shut. Opened less and less frequently as time went by.
When opened, they were forced apart.
When closed, forced back together.
Argue. Retreat. Compromise. Defeat.
Now slung on a bedside drawer that wasn’t the same as the one at home, the locket was a relic. A time capsule of an unrecognisable play of your life.
A movie you re-watch having fallen asleep the first time round.
Nothing was the same anymore.
Out of sight out of mind.
In sickness and in health.
Till death to us part.
