Cracks

"And right before you knew your ending last night, what words echoed in your head"?

"Those exact words General" mark said, "That was why I couldn’t go through with it, I mean kill either of you". And this time it was the Empress who nodded.

Crying hard now Mark said, "Even though I thought you were only characters of my imagination, I could never deny either of you your love for each other. I would never wish my pain on another, real or not".

"And you didn’t Mark" said the Empress "Instead you gave us our love and each other. And because you did just that, we now have something to give you".

Stepping back from her husband the Empress turned to the fireplace and raised her hands over her head. And between her palms a small light began to glow. Then she ever so quickly dropped both her hands to her sides and as she did Mark was knocked back by a defining CRACK. As he climbed back to his feet he looked past the Empress to the fireplace. And where the fireplace used to be stood a hole in the wall. Only it did not show the snow-covered ground outside, through it Mark saw a world, a world not his own. But a world Mark knew all too well. He was now looking at a beautiful meadow of wild flowers, and in the center of it the most immense willow tree Mark had ever seen. And next to the tree stood a woman of indescribable beauty, a beauty Mark also knew very well. Joyce turned and looked across the meadow and began to walk towards the hole. Mark turned and looked from the hole, to the Empress, to the General his eyes over flowing with tears. And they both just smiled back. He turned back to the hole in his wall as Joyce stepped through. She came to stand in front of Mark and raised her head to look in Marks eyes. She said nothing, she simply held out her hand to Mark her own eyes streaming with tears.

The General spoke in Mark’s ear, "Its time to go Mark, its time for you to have what you have given us, and to live the life you and Joyce deserve".

Never taking his eyes off of Joyce for fear she would disappear he spoke to the General, "Was it you who came to my cabin last night? Three times I heard the CRACK".

And the General answered, " The first CRACK you heard Mark was me coming to kill you, in hopes it would ensure my existence with my own love. But I could not. Instead I put my trust in your own pain and the second CRACK you heard was me returning to my own world to pray for my own love. Then the third crack was the Empress and myself coming back here to await your ending".

"Now" said the Empress, "You have proven that regardless of your own lost love you still remained true to our love"

Suddenly Mark realized he was holding Joyce’s hand. She turned from him and led him toward the hole in the wall. He turned and looked back at his leather briefcase sitting in his cottage. He wonderer if anyone would ever find the last novel he ever wrote. And as he turned back toward Joyce he stepped through the hole with his companions and walked to the crest of the meadow. Standing next to the weeping willow holding the hand of the woman he loved he gazed at the world below. His world now. And he cried tears of unspeakable joy.

THE END