Her eyes shined up at him, a crystal clear blue that no words could describe. Eyes that had taunted him, teased him, and then, loved him. They were etched in his mind, and nothing could erase them. He had fallen in love with those eyes, eyes that seemed to have held the meaning of everything. Their pools were endless and forever beckoning. Every known secret hid behind them and he was the only one that held the key. It had seemed like a given at the time, but now it was a curse. For when she was gone, he would still be there, experiencing the pain. It was a pain that should not be known to man. The helplessness of knowing, and not being able to do anything.

Dreams haunted him when he dared to sleep. Insomnia was a grateful escape. When exhaustion finally overtook him, he would collapse, and relive everything. Memories were so sharp, it could have happened yesterday. His family watched on, incapable of feeling what he was going through. His two younger brothers would watch on, while nightmares screamed in his head. Something had happened to him and he was unsure what it was. Again, experiencing the unknowing.

Days passed into weeks, weeks into months, and finally months into years. Nothing was the same anymore. Her eyes followed him wherever he went, constantly watching and waiting. Waiting for the time when they could be rejoined, in a heaven so pure and angelic, words could not describe. As hours passed, their time grew nearer.

Faintly he could hear voices, but every word spoken was incoherent to him. All he could understand now was the eyes, the torture of those eyes being with him at all times. The bright light he saw earlier was slowly coming closer, tempting him, like a little boy to chocolate. Void of the energy to refuse, he let it take over his body, mind and lastly, his soul.

“Mommy, what’s going to happen to Ike?” a little voice asked, barely above a whisper.

An older, weary, but not lacking beauty, figure shook her head. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”