Just three words. That was all it took. Three words that changed his life forever. He wasn’t prepared, but how can you be? He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as he gazed across the river at the distant shoreline seeking absent answers. The world would have to keep spinning without him. Life would go on. The birds would sing, roses would bloom and the sun would rise. He soberly studied the palm of his hand, tracing his lifeline slowly and deliberately with his index finger. A match was possible, of course. Hope lived, but he was realistic.
In the end, it was just four words which delivered his greatest gift.
“We have a match.”
Tears no comfort. His life extinguished in a blink. Hers adrift in a sea of despair. One helpful step from the curb, just like him, delivers his end. ‘If he must be gone at least he can help someone else,’ the nurse’s words drift in her mind, swimming to the surface. A life saved, a zero made one. A part of him beating on in the world. A small gift, a stranger's fate held in the palm of her hand. She imagines herself, releasing a dove into a perfect blue sky, rose petals scattered by graceful wings, letting him be free to continue his journey, flying onwards to his match.
A perfect match. A glance is all it took when they met. She senses his presence as she stands quietly waiting before God, him watching with his warm smile, she smiles embraced by his love. Now she holds the hands of the recipient of his gift. The man whose fate she held unknowing in the palm of her hand. The man he made whole. The man she made complete. The rose petals drift in the light breeze across the gravel pathway and some settle on his almost final resting place.
Two People. Two rings. Two words. “I do.”
Three doves released.
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327 words
Each Main Paragraph or story above meets the criteria. Three words first sentence. Has to be a Gift, and words Palm, Match, Rose.
Written for Furious Fiction December https://www.writerscentre.com.au/furious-fiction/ and then forgot to submit... doh!
