Page 105 of A Moment In Time

“Shit.”

Everything that happened that morning came back to him. The sound the tree made right before it fell. The confusion of not knowing where the sound was coming from. Then the reality of being right under it with no time to get out of the way. Suddenly it was on top of him and he was lying in the snow. But the most vivid memory of all was when he realized he was trapped. And he knew he would only last so long in the freezing temperatures and the wet snow.

“Sydney.” His last conscious thought was of her. He was dying and the last thing he thought of was her. Was it regret he felt?No.Oddly enough, it was gratitude. He was thankful she had been in his life.

“If that isn’t love. I don’t know what is. Dammit. I’m in love with Sydney.” He smiled. “Well, of course you are, you idiot. She’s the last thing you think of before you go to sleep and the first thing on your mind when you wake up. I’m ready. Man. I am so ready.”

He took out his cell phone and dialed the office number.

“The Calaway Report.”

“Hey. Can you come downstairs for a minute?”

“Who is this?”

“What?”

Sydney laughed. “I’ll be right down.”

Sydney came down the stairs and walked over to him. When she spotted the half-empty beer bottle, she pointed at it. “Are we celebrating early?”

“No. Just needed a beer.” He picked it up and took a drink. “I developed the photos from that morning.”

“The tree morning?”

“Yeah.” She handed the pictures to her. She looked through them. “Owls? They’re so cute. They’re posing for you.”

“I wish they would’ve pointed out the tree falling next to me.”

“Were they all of the owls?”

“There were a few random pictures from before that day. I remember what happened.”

She went to him and took his hand. “Do you want to tell me?”

“I heard the sound. For some reason, I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. And then it was falling and I couldn’t move out of the way.”

She put her arms around him. “Oh, honey.”

“I don’t remember being scared. Or even pissed. But I knew I was done for.”

“I’m so sorry. I would’ve been terrified.”

“I thought of you.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. You would’ve been my last living memory.”

She hugged him again. “What does that mean?”

He kissed her. “It means I was given a second chance to stop being an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot. Nor have you ever been one.”

“I’ve been a little bit of an idiot. What’s going on upstairs?”

“A few more people have dropped by. But I put a sign on the door. We have fifteen minutes.”

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