Smitten and Crestfallen (The One that Got Away)

Did you ever feel like holding something precious within the grasp of your hand…?

It was so precious, yet it was something you'd already taken for granted.

You were filled with hopes and expectations, were eager to fulfill, were ready to be happy. You were trembling with anticipation, trembling, shaking; your hands were shaking…

Stupid fool, didn’t you know that you were holding a handful of sand?

Didn’t you realize that you were gripping too tightly? That you were shaking too fervently, too eager, and thus the sand started slipping down your fingers…slipping away…slipping steadily like in an hourglass without a bottom bulb. Irreversible.

You were frantic. You clutched even tighter, prayed, pleaded, clasped that precious something close to the beat of your heart. Grim realization dawned that they kept slipping away, scattering, and started embracing the passing wind.

Resignedly, you opened up your palm…lingered the sand grain, remnants of memory short-lived. And you wondered, how did you fuck up?