The Moment<\/p>\n
A Short Story Told in Poetry and Prose<\/p>\n
By<\/p>\n
Radiance Angelina Petro<\/p>\n
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I.<\/p>\n
Yesterday a moment passed me by at the flea market.<\/p>\n
She moved through the bangles, baubles, silks, bric-a-brac, knives, and rings.<\/p>\n
I saw her and she me.\u00a0 In fact she turned to look at me full in the face,<\/p>\n
And I know she was just about to tell me that every wonderful thing<\/p>\n
Anyone has ever said about me is true\u2014that I am a powerful force for good in this world.<\/p>\n
We looked at each other as people passed by eating funnel cakes, ignoring us.<\/p>\n
And just as I moved towards to her to ask her for a single, simple embrace,<\/p>\n
She suddenly began to pull away\u2014as if reeled backwards by some cruel fisherman,<\/p>\n
And as she vanished, and as I began to push through people to chase after her,<\/p>\n
She called out–I swear I heard her call out over the sounds of the many angry voices:<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember,\u201d she called, \u201cremember just how important you are.\u00a0 It\u2019s all true.\u201d<\/p>\n
And at the last second, as I nearly caught her to pull her off whatever terrible hook that was in her,<\/p>\n
She stretched out her hand, and I fell forwards trying to grasp it, missing it by inches.<\/p>\n
Then she was gone–swallowed up into nothing, never to be seen again.<\/p>\n
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II.<\/p>\n
As I sat down right there, with people having to suddenly navigate a person sitting in the middle of the floor, I began to weep.\u00a0 After a few minutes, out of nowhere, a little girl, holding her mother\u2019s hand, stopped and said to her mother, \u201cMommy look, someone is sitting on the floor crying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIgnore her,\u201d her mother said trying to pull her along, but the girl stood stock still, forcing her mother to stop.\u00a0 And then, the little girl let go of her mother\u2019s hand, and leaned in close to me and said, \u201cLady, what\u2019s the matter?\u00a0 Why are you crying?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked up at her. Her face was full and wise, and powdered with sugar from eating some treat\u2014probably a funnel cake, I thought.\u00a0 And then I said: \u201cSweet one, I almost touched a moment I\u2019ve always wanted to touch\u2014or that I\u2019ve always wanted to have touch me.\u00a0 She was just here, little girl, and we got close\u2014so close, but then she got dragged away and disappeared, and I am afraid I will never find her ever again, nor she me. That, little sweet one, is why I am sitting here in the middle of the floor crying, like a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh,\u201d said the girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome ON,\u201d said the mother, reaching down trying to grab her by the arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a minute,\u201d she said, shrugging her mother away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s OK,\u201d I said to her, you can go with your mother.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be alright.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she look like?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh,\u201d I said, \u201cshe was beautiful.\u00a0 More beautiful than anyone or anything I have ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was she wearing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh,\u201d I said, \u201cshe was wearing this flowing shift of white light that made her look like she was wearing heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI see,\u201d she said, and then stood up, for she had sat down across from me on the floor to conduct her little interview, much to her mother\u2019s displeasure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d she said, reaching up for her mother\u2019s hand, \u201cI hope you find her again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d I laughed, \u201cyou\u2019re very kind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s go,\u201d said her mother, and then to me, \u201cGet up lady.\u00a0 Look around you.\u00a0 Do you see anyone else sitting around crying in the middle of the floor because they missed their moment?\u00a0 Get up. You\u2019re in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
And as they walked into the crowd, I looked after them and, to my amazement they were both wearing flowing shifts of white light that made them look like they were wearing heaven.\u00a0 How had I not noticed that before? I wondered.\u00a0 And as I stood, I staggered, and saw everyone was wearing flowing shifts of white light, and as I braced myself against my fears, I righted my back, stood tall, and began walking again full of wonder, my own shift of white light trailing behind me, like the train of a bridal gown.\u00a0 It was everything I could do to refrain my hands from touching every face I saw.\u00a0 It was everything I could to not ask each and every person if I could hug them.\u00a0 It was everything I could do not to sing. And then, as I continued moving through the sea of white light, there, right next to me, holding my hand, was my moment.\u00a0 She was laughing, beckoning me to look around us, and as I did, I laughed too, and knew in my heart that everything wonderful anyone ever said about me was true.<\/p>\n
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