For Lily

He stared at the dedication page, knowing that there was only one person the novel was written for. If he chose to go with his heart and write the dedication for her, everything he had until this day would be gone. His wife would leave him, thinking that he never loved her and that their life was a lie; his children would probably not speak to him again. He’d miss their weekly phone calls about how his grandchildren were doing but he felt that he owed her just that one page no matter how hard the consequences were.

He sat down, staring at the blank computer screen.  Writing just ‘For Lily’ seemed too simple, yet it was impossible to write the story of them in just a page. His book was about regret, about what their lives would be like had they not parted ways.

“Lily, this is what we could have been.”

He reread the sentence he typed and realized that it fit the novel nicely. That was what the story was about. When he sent the first draft to his editor she was thrilled, saying that it was going to be a best seller.

He took one last look the last words he would ever write – “Lily, this is what we could have been” and saved the document.

He crawled into bed. His wife was already fast asleep. He put his arms around her carefully; closed his eyes; drifted to sleep with thoughts of Lily in his mind.

(26 June 2010)