Lisa Cardiff’s Reviews > I Will Remember You > Status Update

The world paused for a second, cementing the moment in my brain for all eternity. The frozen expression on everyone’s face. The flat light of the cloudy day mixed with plumes of smoke. The shouts of revelry that carried on outside heedless of what was occurring in my house. The ivory feathers stuck to the hem of my skirt. The smell of the burning gin house. The way Brett’s arm tightened fractionally around my neck.

After a half an hour, I could see the muzzle of the enemy’s guns and hear the steady clops of hooves, groaning axles, and crunching wheels. Still, I didn’t make any move to join Mama and the Cadwells in the parlor and no one called out to me either. Not fifteen minutes later, the army had surrounded my house and a pounding sounded at the front door.

If you were fortunate, you might meet a few important people who were right for you at that moment. Not because the timing was perfect or the other person was perfect, but because together everything made sense. While it may or may not last forever, the ephemeral nature of life just made it imperative that you cherish every second you had with that person.

The sun bathed the area in a golden light. The air was fresh and full of life and warmth. Standing below the wavering trees, the heat of the sidewalk radiating through the thin soles of my boots, I felt the new beginning I’d been searching for since Andrew had died. Are you going to paint me? Like this?” I scooped up one of the pink flowers on the ground and tucked it behind my ear.
“Now, you look perfect."

I could hear Brian calling out to me, but he sounded garbled, as if he were talking underwater. The flames of fear licked at me and I knew without a doubt that if I succumbed to this memory and slipped into the past, my life would never be the same. I clawed at the door behind me, desperate to stay in the present.

“Promise me you’ll be safe. Promise me you’ll come back to me no matter what,” I whispered urgently, but what I really wanted to ask was if he’d reconsider and run away with me somewhere far away where this war couldn’t touch us. Where we could live happily ever after. Family obligations and politics be damned. I only wanted him. Forever. Without him, nothing mattered.

Clutching the wooden armrests of the chair, I sat there in the fading light of the room, staring at my computer screen, desperately praying I’d stay rooted in the moment for as long as possible. Bit by bit, the present faded away like sand through my open fingers. A bright light flashed, my vision receded to a pinprick, and I was gone. “Sit down, Elizabeth. Can we talk for a few minutes?”

I woke to the sound of thunder shaking the windows. My shoulders tensed and I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t dare move a centimeter. I couldn’t bear the thought of opening my eyes and finding myself living another life again. My heart beat faster and faster the longer I lay unmoving. Anticipation flooded my ears with the sound of rushing blood, and I couldn’t stand the mystery any longer.

Like most people, I’d had bursts of déjà vu. They lasted for a second, then faded away almost immediately and were totally forgotten not too long after. This sensation was different. Every tree, every bend of the path felt intimately familiar. Most likely, I’d somehow wound up around here yesterday and my subconscious mind registered it.

. A warm, almost dream-like breeze swayed the limbs of the magnolia trees overhead, rustling their thick, waxen leaves and filling the air with a sweet, lemony scent. When I angled my head to look at Henry, he was peering up at the sky. His forgotten cigar rested on a patch of dirt next to the blanket. A trail of smoke curled upward, twirling above us, then evaporated into the darkness.