Twice Loved and Twice Left

 Jimmy felt the silence creep like a cold mist on his skin as he stood on his deck looking across the back yard. The bright moonlight snaked in silver swaths chasing the shadows of the night into a secluded fear. Yes, it was a fear that Jimmy knew well for he too felt like a shadow being impaled by the light. He had been on the run far too long, running from the very light which once gave him a sense of peace and a wholeness of life. Yet now he felt a certain coldness that froze him from within. Jimmy was lost, Jimmy was now alone.

A sharp crackle and a resounding thud startled him from his self induced pity. The dead branch of a nearby tree had crashed to the frozen winter ground no less than twenty feet away bringing the dogs in the neighborhood to a well orchestrated howling, first one, then two, and now an entire chorus of barking dogs stole the silence of the night. A small clatter of birds rustled and shifted to another tree nearby. The rush of their flight made Jimmy think of approaching angels; once in his mind’s eye harbingers of goodness and light, but now they smelled of the darkness born in pits of putrid decay and hate.

Soon the silence returned and the world around him slept again. Warm tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he pondered on what seemed as yesterday. Twice loved and twice left he thought. Death the thief it is had shattered his heart again as the foul spirit manifested under the cover of darkness and robbed Jimmy once more. The first time was in 2008 and now again in 2013. Hot wet anger spilled down his chin as the blood from his bitten lip mingled and pooled against the pale blue paint of the deck. The white wash of the full moon reflected against the dark crimson forming grotesque shapes. A knowing knowledge came to Jimmy this night and he knew all too well in his spirit that his time like love was limited and a fleeting thing. He knew that his heart would not survive again. The pain of watching the eyes of whom he had given his heart closed in cold darkness only three days ago and was too much, just too much to bear.

Jimmy cried alone in the night. His moans of agony went unheard as the masses of the cold city slept unaware of the solitude of his pain. He knew that he was not the only person to experience this and he would not be the last. However, Jimmy’s soul was as gentle as a warm summer breeze, and his heart as tender as the first leaves of spring. Silently Jimmy prayed for deliverance.

Looking teary eyed into the night sky and wiping his bloody lip on his sleeve, Jimmy felt and witnessed something that he could not explain. The hush of the night grew into a load roar and he saw Gabriel. The entity’s garments showed brighter than the moon, and the stars paled in his presence. Behind Gabriel Jimmy saw the archangel Michael. His swords were drawn in each hand fending off the army of darkness. Satan’s angels snarled and gnashed their teeth. Their eyes glowed red and angry with each blow from Michael’s sword as one by one they fell into defeat. Jimmy heard the voices of two loves. He closed his eyes for the last time and slept.   

J. Allen Wilson © 1/21/2011