Once upon a time. What kind of contrived, forced, unimaginative beginning is that? It is one where the reader automatically assumes that the ending will be a happy one. There is no room in the story for any surprises, or even the idea that something may go wrong. Everything has to end "happily ever after." Which is totally wrong of course. Nothing actually ends in real life. Even in death, things go on. We just don't always get to see the ending. Snow White didn't just wake up and marry Prince Charming and that was it. The two lived together, they ruled together. They definitely had arguments, and they most likely disagreed on may things. But with each passing moment, they earned their happiness bit by bit, day by day. Earning that happiness, of course, is harder for some people than it is for others.

    Take this one man, for example, who is forced to live the rest of his days in an institution. It is an old, out of the way building, where those who pass by it every day pay it little mind. Every now and then, a person may walk up the steps and in through the oak doors, sometimes even a whole family, to visit a poor soul in need of care. But no one visits this man. No one even knows who he is. He is here because he has nowhere else to go. He is silent yet his dark, intense eyes speak multitudes. He sits hunched over, his long black hair shrouding his face in mystery. He barely moves, unless directed by an orderly. Never does the man initiate a move or voice a comment. In fact, no one has heard his voice in the five long years he was here.

    Imagine the surprise and shock then, when the building's only television showed an interview between a local newscaster and an international superstar. She had just come out with a new album, and it was quickly rising in the music charts around the world. As soon as her soft voice filled the room, he started and looked up at the screen. And when he saw her smiling face framed by long dark hair and eyes that lit up with laughter, he spoke.

"Angel eyes."

The words cut through the room and everyone stopped. Except him.

    "Angel eyes angel eyes angel eyes angel eyes angel eyes angel eyes angel eyes angel eyes angel eyes..." He repeated the word over and over until it was nothing more than meaningless echoes. Try as they might, the orderlies could not get him to stop. A doctor rushed to his side to examine him, and when he realized that the image on the screen was the source of the outburst, it dawned upon the doctor that perhaps the answer to all the mysteries the patient held inside him was close at hand. A phone call was made, a favour cashed in, and a plane ticket bought. Events set into motion so that the woman would come.

    New reporters followed her every step. From her large home in California, to the airport, and then as it landed they asked endless questions about what her intentions were. Few knew why she came to visit this small building in downtown Toronto, and those who did had no idea what her connection with the man was. Were they related? Was he her brother? Or were they lovers, separated by fate and now brought together again? Questions filled the minds of everyone watching her hurried actions as she rushed from her hotel to the institute. Her fingers were tensed up in balls and she bit her lip nervously. It was a long time, almost a lifetime ago, when they first met. The memories played back in her mind as the car she rode in sped through the streets.

    She ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. Bursting through the doors, reporters barely had enough time to photograph her anxious expression as the awaiting doctor met her in the reception area.

    "Thank you for coming! I'm very pleased that you could make it." He shook her hand and led her down the hallway to the man's quarters.

    "For him, I'd do anything." Her curt reply belied the excitement inside of her. When they reached the door to the room, the doctor stopped her for a moment and spoke quietly.

    "He's right in here. Frankly, I have no idea what reaction he will have when he sees you. I'm hoping it will have a positive effect, and given how he acted when he saw you on the television, I'm inclined to think that you will be a great help. Just call if you need anything."

    She walked in, slowly at first, then with more confidence. Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw him hunched over and whispering to himself. And when she heard his voice say the two words that he loved to call her by, her heart almost broke.

    "Angel eyes... angel eyes."

    She reached out to touch him, afraid to speak, but wanting to say so much to him. Finally she spoke, and the words reached him, catching his attention. She called him by his name, and he looked up at her and whispered the words again, finally understanding what they meant to him. She said his name again, with tears in her eyes. She had found him.

Alexander
Coming soon, the full story...
Sometimes, to have happiness in the future,
you have to let go of the past.