In An Instant, by J. J. Landry

They say everything can change in an instant. For me, that instant was tonight. I’d been sitting by a fogged up window of a small downtown pub awaiting her arrival. I was watching the flights come and go, to and from the airport across the harbor as a cold winter wind crept in and rain fell all across the city. I was dressed up for the occasion, wearing a gray pin-striped suit with a black necktie and matching shoes. I was drinking Jameson Irish Whisky, my favorite. I felt nervous for the first time in a long time. The palms of my rough hands were sweaty and my heart was beating faster than normal. I had just returned from my final deployment overseas and completed the terms of my enlistment. I had her diamond engagement ring in my pocket and our future mapped out in my mind.

I watched as her car arrived and the driver’s side door slowly began to open. Our eyes met for the first time in close to a year and her smile said it all. Finally, I thought, now we could be together. It was then that it happened. My entire life was destroyed before my eyes. Tires screeched outside and people started to crowd around the crash site. The glass I’d been drinking from slipped from my cold, clammy hands and shattered in what felt like slow motion. Tiny shards of glass ricocheted off of the black marble-top table and scattered all over the place. I rushed to the door and dashed out into the street. My heart was pounding really fast inside of my chest; I feared it was too late. I took her soft hand in mine, slipped the diamond ring on her finger, and watched helplessly as she spoke her last breath; “yes”. A drunk driver had crashed into the side of her car and in one fell swoop had taken everything away from me; from us.

I pulled out my .38 snub nose revolver and everything went blank. I stood there motionless for a long moment lost within myself. Warm tears streamed down my sullen face. I stared into her cold blue eyes as they lifelessly stared back into mine. I imagined what our wedding day would’ve been like. I pictured what our children would’ve looked like. I took a deep breath and aimed my pistol at the frantic drunk driver standing just a few feet away, but I didn’t pull the trigger. I must not have heard the sirens. I must not have heard the commands to lower my weapon. Then it hit me; the stinging fire of a 9mm round had planted its way deep into the middle of my chest. I collapsed onto the cold, wet pavement and lay in a pool of warm crimson slowly dying next to the love of my life. One moment our young lives had been so full of hope and promise, and the next…