Written for The Light and Shade Challenge.

"Pane"

The emotion wasn’t skewed through the pane. I couldn’t hear her sorrow or the agony tearing at her heart. But seeing was worse. Watching as it shredded the life she’d come to know, stripped her of her happiness. Her body trembled as if the earth had felt her pain and shook beneath her in sympathy. Her face was broken, and I feared her soul was, too.

I thought for what seemed like an infinite second that the pane between us would falter—just enough that I could dart through unnoticed and touch her hand, the tips of my fingers to the glistening slope of her cheek. I'd scavenge the bleakness in her eyes for the pieces so that, like broken china, I could gather them, reassemble the mess. I'd search the cold air for a glint of sunlight to offer her. 

Instead, I stood helpless behind the pane of life, waiting for what was to come of me. 

Courtney Jennings

crjennings1988@yahoo.com