Lost Tears Found

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must include the line "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Lost Tears Found

Ironic, Charlie thought, the financial market crashed seemingly overnight and yet it feels like my life is crumbling in slow motion. He wanted to cry but his eyes stayed dry. Lisa had gone, taking the last of his tears with her.

Now it was just him and a near-empty bottle of gin keeping each other company in the small rented room of the flop-house. He took one last shower and brushed his teeth one last time. As he stood in front of the bathroom mirror he locked eyes with himself.

At that instant in time, he saw the world with complete clarity. The alcohol had left him. The room faded into nothingness. It was just him and his reflection; staring at each other as if for the first time ever.

Up until that moment, Charlie knew that his time was short. Deadman’s curve waited just a mile down the road; an accident waiting to happen. He had tried to look back over his life and be grateful for this or that but in the end, he saw only the self-induced tragic ending.

Now, as he stared at his soul through the eyes in the mirror, he saw not what had been, but rather, what could be. He saw past the possessions he no longer possessed; past of the worries that he carried like a pine box on his back. He saw into the possibilities of the future and understood the meaning of “This too shall pass.” He saw hope.

The face in the mirror smiled knowingly and asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“No,” he replied softly, “No.”

There was a knock at the door. He opened it and she flew into his arms.

Lisa had come for him, and she had brought his tears.

Word Count 298