She wrote of fond times, long in the past,
Times of joy, times of love; all eventually pass;
But the Queen remained forever, beautiful and fair,
Her body not human, instead of Elvan heir.

She married and loved a king not of her blood,
Together they wed, but alone she had sons;
He had died in the war, fighting for justice,
Her sons grew old, but died like they must.

Through the years she had wed many more men,
All who lived differently, and all who are dead;
One was a tyrant, not fit for the throne,
Forced into marriage, the choice not her own.

The second, was a king of virtue and pride,
This one she cared for, ’til the day that he died;
The next was a youth, a buffoon with a crown,
An embarrassing sight, would flinch at a sound.

Her heart remained true to the first of those kings,
A man of peace, of humanity, nearly free from all sin;
He had given her love, trumped by no other,
Righteous and valiant, an admirable lover.

The rest of her kind set sail over seas,
The choice that she made had forbid her to leave;
The age of the Elves had come and had gone,
Yet the age of the Queen continued to prolong.

For centuries on end she would think of the day,
The world would end, letting her be on her way;
To a state of the mind, of body, and soul,
To be with her one love, to comfort, to hold.

Though privileged at birth with eternal life,
Her conscience and mind simply wanted to die;
Regrets now and then would flow through her mind,
Wanting to start over, to go back in time.

But happiness came from what was once said,
By the first man who took her hand to be wed;
“Your love’s never ending, and neither is mine,
Forget not our promises when it’s far past my time.”

So atop that tall tower, so decrepit and old,
Sat the Queen of the times, sitting sadly alone;
Life everlasting merits sorrow with grief,
This is the unfortunate curse of the Queen.

The second, a woman, she antagonized me much,
She laughed at my losses, I laughed at her cuss,
I left her to taste the Hudson’s dark water,
That’s the last she sang of my darling lost daughter.

Third and final, the boss, he was difficult to find,
Hidden from public, he was devising new crime,
Shocked to see me, he was; yet smiling that smile,
He took out a knife, tried to add me to the pile.

His knife was short lived, I had broken his arm,
The cries of his pain had become the alarm,
I did what I must and fled from the scene,
That bastard now silent, I had finished the deed.

At night when I think about what I have done,
I remember my wife, my daughter, my son,
I cry out to God, “There’s nothing more for me now.”
No family, no more vengeance, no more people to be found.

It was so quiet in the hospital. All I could hear was the low grumble of the air conditioning unit in the ceiling. Suddenly, my room door opened, startling me. My doctor walked in casually. He had a clipboard in his hands. He looked up at me for a long moment.

“Hey Tracy, it’s been awhile since we last talked. How are you feeling?” he asked.

Tracy walked over to the bed and sat down. The doctor stood there for a minute jotting some notes down on his clipboard.
“I’m feeling fine really. I don’t even feel like I had any surgery.” she answered.

“Well, your personal belongings are over there on that cabinet. You’re free to go whenever you like. Please just sign out at the front desk.”

Tracy looked up in shock.
“That’s it, there’s nothing you have to do, no follow up examinations?” she replied oddly.

“Nope, I have been watching you for awhile. You’ve recovered just fine.” he answered.
“Here, this will get you released from the hospital.” he said as he handed her a small form, half the height of a normal piece of paper.

He continued, “Would you like me to call a cab for you Tracy?”

Tracy’s reply was delayed, “No..no. It’s fine. My home isn’t far from here. I can walk, thank you.”

The doctor smiled as he exited the room, “Glad you’re with us again Tracy.”

Tracy thought it was weird that the doctor didn’t need to do any type of follow up procedures. She looked down at the slip that he had given her. It had a bunch of words and was signed ‘Ghelso O. Dommermuth’. She gathered her belongings and changed out of the hospital clothes that she was wearing.

She walked down the hall towards the receptionist’s desk at the far end. Everything was so bright. The hospital room she had been in was very dark, but the hallways were entirely lit up. She approached the receptionist, who was a small black woman staring at her computer while fidgeting with her hair.

“Doctor Dommermuth told me to give this to you.” she said as she handed the small slip to the young woman. The young woman read over the slip carefully and then looked up at Tracy with an almost sad face. It quickly turned into a large smile though.

“You’re all set, Tracy!” she said excitingly, as she put her initials on the line underneath the doctor’s signature.

Tracy thanked the young woman and continued through the doors next to the desk and down the stairs. She walked through the lobby, which was surprisingly empty and then out through the front doors.

The air outside was cool, but not cold; it was quite refreshing and felt good after being in the hospital for so long. She unbuttoned her jacket seeing how it wasn’t as cold as she thought it was. She walked past the little park that she was watching earlier. The two teenage basketball teams were sitting on the benches, taking a break. She could hear their laughter as they made jokes to each other while resting. The other children who were on the swings had left now. She turned the corner and continued down the next street picking up her pace a little bit. She couldn’t wait to see her husband and her six year-old son. Tracy cracked a smile just by thinking of them. It seemed like ages since the last time they saw each other. Just another mile now and they’d be together again.

Tracy reached her house at the edge of town to find the lights on in the upstairs bedrooms. It was past 7:30 PM, so she didn’t know why Jacob would be up still. Her husband must be letting him stay up late, like usual. She quietly entered her house, closing the door gently behind her. She could faintly smell the scent of grilled cheese coming from the kitchen, Jacob’s favorite meal. She walked into the kitchen to see all the pans and dishes neatly stack in the drainer. She grinned happily at the thoroughness of her husband. She turned around and walked silently back through the hallway and up the stairs. The stairs, however, were impossible to keep a secret. At the top of the stairs her husband’s head curiously poke out from the bedroom door.

He stood in awe as he watched his wife ascend the staircase. He looked sad for a moment, the same way the receptionist at the hospital had looked. But his troubled face gradually lit up with happiness.

“Welcome home, you’re with us again. I’m so happy.” he said as he embraced her as she came to the top of the stairs.

“Mommy!” cried a small voice from room down the hall.
“Jacob!” she replied enthusiastically.
“Oh, I’ve missed you so much dear!” she continued.
“You never leave us again Mommy! We will live here in heaven together, forever!” Jacob said joyfully.
“She pulled back from hugging her son.

“What do you mean darling?” she asked curiously.
Her husband cut Jacob off before he could get begin talking. “I think it’s time for bed Jacob. You and you mother can talk all you want in the morning.

“Aww, c’mon Dad.” Jacob replied.
He picked up Jacob and gave him a shoulder ride to his bedroom. Tracy could hear the laughter of her son as her husband tickled him. As she listened she laughed quietly to herself, but then thought about what Jacob had said. “We will live here in heaven together, forever!” What did he mean?

Her husband exited the room and turned off Jacob’s bedroom light, but kept the door slightly ajar to let in the light from the hallway. Tracy entered their bedroom and sat on the bed. He shut the door behind him and sat on the bed next to her.

“Tracy, you didn’t recover from your surgery.” he said sadly.
“What, I don’t understand..” she said bewildered.
“I’m sorry Tracy, but it’s true.”

“We were driving to Jacob’s soccer game and another car hit ours from the side. Jacob and I died in the crash.” he described carefully.

He continued, “You survived, but had critical heart injuries. And unfortunately, you died on the operating table…”

Tracy began to cry as her husband described to her what happened.

“So.. so we’re dead. We’re in heaven?” she said as she wiped away tears from her face.
“Yes, we’re in heaven” he answered as he rubbed her back.
“It’s okay, we’re all together again, aren’t you happy?”

She began to chuckle underneath her breath as she came to the realization.
“It’s just that, I thought of heaven as.. different than this. Everything is exactly as it was when we were living.” she stated.
Her husband gave her a big comforting hug, a hug that deeply soothed her.

“Well, heaven can be whatever a person desires most in their hearts.” he told her.
“For Jacob, you and I, all we wanted to do was live on.” he finished.
“So that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

He smiled at Tracy, and soon, she couldn’t help but smile in return.

He asked me for a drink, two shots of gin,
I told him alcohol substitutes not for medicine,
He sat there mourning the loss of his wife,
He sat there mourning the loss of his life.

I asked him how it happened, he slowly replied,
He stared me down, then let out a sigh,
With a big deep breath he spoke, “I did it.”,
My heart sank deep for the revealing culprit.

He took out a revolver and pointed it my way,
My hands raised fast, I had nothing to say,
He tipped me a c-note and turned to leave,
His pitiful figure exited in front of me.

I gasped a sigh of relief as he walked past the window,
That insane guilty man had truly lost all his hope,
As I phoned the police, I heard yells and cries,
That heartbroken old man had taken his life.

When Jody went home at night she’d make it a priority to get all her homework done before she engaged in any leisure activities. Her mother and father would encourage her to try out for some of the sports teams at the high school; they were sure she’d make the team, but she refused. Instead she made a habit of taking a run every other day to keep in shape. Somedays during the week, she had work down at the local grocery store in town. She happily bagged groceries for hours on end. Her boss sometimes complained because he never even saw her begin her shift or leave after it was done. She’d just come during her scheduled hours and then leave when they were over.

She was virtually unnoticed by everyone. No one knew anything about her really, and the rumors that spread about her were usually false. How do I know so much about her? Well… I knew Jody and, there lies the problem.

I knew Jody Miller some time ago. Half way through senior year, I stomached the courage to approach Jody during lunch. I sat down at her lonely table and started a conversation with her. At first she was skeptical to talk to me, but eventually conversation began to flow more smoothly and we found quite a few things in common. Every time I would mention a similarity in our likenesses, her face would glow a light pink of content. She seemed nervous, but curious at the same time. Besides the school teachers, I was one of the first people to interact and have a true relationship with Jody Miller.

The uniqueness of Jody and I was that on first glance, we were polar opposites. I was a social guy. I played sports, I was in a band with some of my friends, I wasn’t too bright throughout high school struggling to stay on the Football team, and I didn’t like reading that much. I hung out with a lot of people, from all the different cliques in our school. I’m not trying to boast or anything, just showing you our differences. And yet through all of that, Jody and I still found companionship.

Jody and I hung out almost every day after that. There was some link between us that just ignited with passion. We were in love, true love, not just high school love. I’d had a few girlfriends in the past, but most of them were the same, only clinging on me for high school status, or for me to buy them this and that. Jody was different; she just wanted to be around me and talk to with me. That year on the Valentine’s day, I took her to a fancy restaurant, one that she had never been to before. I told her that she could have anything she wanted, no matter the price. Modestly, she had a salad. At the end of the night she gave me a kiss, a sincere kiss, thanking me for a wonderful evening. I was the luckiest man alive to have Jody; I’d do anything for her.

All both of us ever wanted to do was be together. And at a point, it became a problem Jody’s slipped out of high honors at the end of the third quarter I even watched as her grades began to drop below B’s. I talked to her about it, but she just told me that everything was fine. She just wanted to hang out with me. She even stopped reading as much as she used too and instead we’d go out and socialize with some friends. We’d go bowling sometimes, which she had taking a liking to. She was a fast learner and soon became pretty good too, bowling in the two hundreds a few times. When I was with Jody, life was good.

It was the night before prom. I was supposed to pick up Jody at her house at 7PM and we were going to meet everyone at the school before we piled onto the coach buses to take us to the cruise liner in New York. I got to her house and rang the doorbell. Her mother answered it and complimented me on how nice I looked. I thanked her and stepped inside. Jody came down the stairs in a white dress with her hair up neatly. She look beautiful. I was speechless; I didn’t know what to say for many moments. She just looked at me grinning and we casually made our way out the door, waving back at her parents. They stood in the front doorway watching as we pulled out of the driveway.

When we arrived at the school, we waited inside with the rest of our classmates in the cafeteria. Finally, one of the coach buses arrived, and the other one was said to be on its way. It was quite warm outside, but the wind was terribly strong, making it hard to even hear each other talk. I watched as the freshman basketball team just finished a game and were dispersing out of the building with their parents. One of my freshman friends was passing the ball back and forth with his friend. I saw as his friend accidently threw it over his head and so he turned to chase after it. He rushed over to get it before it got to the parking lot, but he didn’t realize that our second coach bus that was pulling up in front of the first bus.

I saw this and I knew what I had to do. At that point I stood there arguing with with my conscience. I knew what I had to do I was hesitant.

Quickly I ran over as fast as I could and shoved my friend out of the way of the coach bus. All I saw after that were bright lights, and then… thump! My arm had hit the edge of the bus, but I was not seriously injured from the impact… Wearily I got up to my feet and cleared my blurry vision. When I came to, my eyes witnesses the most horrible of scenes. Jody had followed me in efforts to save the young man. After I had saved the boy I was left directly in front of the bus’ path. Jody had pushed me out of the way at that very moment.

My Jody lay there lifeless on the concrete parking lot, with half her body still underneath the bus. Our classmates rushed over yelling and screaming in shock and confusion. I slowly bent down next to Jody. I knew she was dead. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew it. My hands became soaked with her blood as I held her head in my lap. Her perfect white dress, stained by blood. Her perfect life, stained by me. It was my fault.

Her beautiful life in exchange for a guy like me. That’s not a fair trade; how could this happen? I sat there with Jody until emergency help arrived. At that very moment in time I wish I’d never had met her. I wish that I was still contemplated whether or not to go talk to her at that lunch table on that day. I just wish that she was alive, regardless of whether we were together or not. I wish she could go back before she we met, back when she was that conservative, quiet, and lonely person. At least she’d still be alive…

It doesn’t kill purposefully, it kills naturally.
It kills easily and without thought.
There’s no reason for what it does,
It’s simply a part of nature.

I could not breathe, I could not win.
The cold waters of Lake Eerie devours my body.
God forgive me, for I have taken my own life.
I’ve made a mistake.

Everything was going well until he saw a large construction sign pointing in the taxi’s direction. The cab had made it to the corner of Central Park, and had come to a dead stop in traffic as the sound of drills and machinery filled the air. John sighed, but took to his feet hastily. He thanked the cab driver and gave him a twenty for a ten dollar trip. He rushed out of the car and started running as he unbuttoned his collared shirt with one hand and firmly gripped his briefcase with the other. Though John looked in shape, that wasn’t truly the case. Sitting around in an office cubical all day didn’t help much either.

He ran and ran. Sweat started to form above his brow and his briefcase began to feel like it had a rock in it. He carefully crossed the street and down the next block, trying to avoid the others on the sidewalks as best he could.

Finally he made it to her apartment building. Into the main lobby he ran as fast as he could. He watched as others around him stared awkwardly in his direction as he sprinted through the lobby. As he came to the elevator hallway, he watched as both elevator doors closed on him. Quickly he made a u-turn and headed for the staircase, which in fact, wasn’t particularly easy in the shoes he was wearing. He almost ended up face first on the floor, but luckily caught himself and continued on, panting heavily as he went. Her apartment was on the fifth floor, so he was confident that he could make his way up the stairs faster than the time it would take to wait for the only two elevators of the building to come back down to the lobby floor.

Third floor, fourth floor, and then finally the fifth floor came. His briefcase kept on getting heavier and heavier it seemed. But he was almost there. He couldn’t take a break now. It was already twenty minutes past five o’clock. His legs burned as he came to the door number 509. As he finally tried to catch his breath he knocked on the door three times, then took out his key, which Julie had given him to her apartment, and went in.

There was many people inside, ready and waiting. The three knocks had been a warning that it was only him.

“Is she here yet?” John asked.
“No, not yet. You’re lucky John.” responded a few people.

John let out an enormous sigh of relief as he knelt down on the floor in utter happiness. Julie had been away on a trip to Connecticut to visit her best friend and her train arrived back in New York at 4:20 PM. As he regained his normal breathing, he opened his suitcase and reached for a small box.

All of a sudden they heard footsteps in the hallway. Everyone quieted down and shut off the lights. The footsteps stopped at the door and they heard the scraping of keys against the dead bolt lock. Julie walked into the darkness, but before she could get two steps into her apartment, everyone yelled, “Surprise!”

Julie let out a small scream at first, overwhelmed by the situation, but then smiled that smile that John had fallen in love with. It was Julie’s birthday and John had gathered her relatives and his to give her a nice day to remember. But that wasn’t all.

John approached Julie and gave her a warm kiss on the cheek.

“You organized all this for me?” Julie asked.
“Yup, all for you Julie.” he answered.
“But I have one more question to go along with your birthday celebration.” he continued.

Julie looked at him curiously, “Hmm?”.

John got down on one knee and took out the small black box that he had gotten from his briefcase. He opened it slowly, revealing a gold ring with a flawless diamond embedded in the center of it. As he open the box, he spoke those words that are from the heart and soul of a person in love.

“Julie Marie Robinson, will you marry me?”

The look of astonishment, of joy, of pure delight on Julie’s face radiated throughout the room as everyone watched in nervous excitement.

“John Trenton, of course I’ll marry you!”

I ran in the darkness, cold, and all alone. I knew I was being chased, but I didn’t know by whom. It seemed like I had been running for a lifetime. But still, his footsteps were accompanied by his disgruntled voice.

“You must come with me now.”

Ignoring his pleas, I kept running through what seemed to be an endless abyss of shadows and nothingness. I had almost given up all hope until I saw something resonating in the distance. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it was some sort of light. The lights were pulsating in and out slowly. Again I pushed my legs to move me forward; I had to. The voice of my assailant seemed to be getting louder; he was drawing nearer.

Faster and faster I ran to the lights trying desperately to make out what they were. It seemed like those lights weren’t even getting closer, but my only other option was to stop and give in to my relentless attacker. He would surely kill me if he caught me. I have so much to live for; I can’t die right now…

Finally I made out the blurry source of the light. It was a cab, a yellow cab with its hazard lights on. I waved furiously at him, flailing my arms in the air as I continued to run through the thick blackness. Finally I got to his passenger side window and knocked on it. There was a man with a long brown beard in the sitting silently in the driver’s seat. He leaned over and rolled down the window.

“You need a lift?” he asked curiously.
“Yes! Yes, please we have to go now!” I responded as I opened the door and got in.

My assailant must have been terribly close by now.

“Please go! I don’t care where, just drive!” I yelled.
“Do you trust me?” he replied.
“Huh, what!? Yeah, whatever, just go!” I answered quickly.
He then put his hand on my shoulder and asked again in a serious tone, “Do you trust me?”
I turned to him and saw how serious his expression was. His eyes lay fixed on me awaiting a honest answer.
“Yes, I trust you.” I replied hesitantly.

The man paused for a moment and then turned back to the steering wheel.

“Then here we go, one more chance for you.” he said happily as he turned the key and pushed the accelerator.
I looked at him awkwardly, not knowing what he meant by, “one more chance”.
As he sped up I could see the shadowy silhouette if my assailant in the rear view window. Fortunately, he did not catch us.

We drove for hours. I didn’t question the man; he just kept a blank stare on the road. Without knowing it, I fell asleep after awhile.

“We’re almost there.” said them man in a grumbling tone, as he poke my gut.
I opened my eyes and saw light, a purple, pinkish hue on the horizon. It looked as if the road was leading into the sun which was rising in front of us. The light got brighter and brighter, changing into a fluorescent yellow shade that expanded from the horizon like a mother opening her arms to hold her child. I could even feel it slightly warming my skin as we continued down the newly illuminated road. During all this, the bearded cab driver said nothing and kept his stare only on the road. The light of the sun got stronger and stronger until I eventually could hardly see anymore. Everything turned white and for a moment, I was scared. I lost feeling in my hands at first, but then the numbness took over my entire body. I didn’t know where I was, where I was going to.

When I came around, I found myself in a hospital bed. I could hear the faint beeping of a heart monitor next to where I was laying. What had happened? Why was I here. A nurse was walked casually by my room window. She happened to glance up at me from her clipboard of papers to see me awake and curiously looking around my room. She abruptly stopped and gave me a long stare of amazement, then ran off briskly as if to find someone. Moments later the nurse returned with a doctor. They both came storming into the room.

“Stuart Michaels? Can you hear me?” he asked anxiously.
“Wha.. What? Where am I?” I replied in a mumbling tone; it hurt to speak.
“You’re at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.”
He continued, “Two and a half years ago you were involved in a serious accident. You went into a coma since then and now here you are awake and you seem to be healthy.” he said excitingly as he checked Stuart’s vitals and other health monitors.

I smiled a huge smile and began laughing. I lazily lay back in my bed and recalled my recent dream. “One more chance.” I said grinning. “One more chance at life.”