The people in those moments, moments of the people, then, back then and there, right there; there they are everything and then they are forever. But only then can they live, and only there can they be, then they are gone. As those moments pack up their delights and set a foot for departure, so will the people, the people in those moments. What to do now? Should you stand tall, pretend their leaving hasn’t bothered you one bit and wave goodbye with a smile, as if you are glad to see them leave? What should you make of this moment? The moment of undervalued farewell.

You let your eyes stare at their face without a blink, but when the heart releases the reservoir of sundry emotions and streams of tears rush up, you close your eyes, tilt your head down… take a moment, then look back up, look at them with a smile, a smile solely displayed to conceal the dew in your eyes and the void you formed in your heart at the release of the well-kept reservoir. Take that deep breath and open your mouth to say… to say what you can’t say. You won’t say it, but you breathe again. Your moment is gone. Now you stand looking at a different person. That blurred person you were looking at with your tear-filled eyes… now you can see them clearly. But they are not who they were in that moment. The moment is gone forever, and took with it whoever that person had become while in it.

You then clear your throat, adjust your posture and pull yourself out of that moment. Walk back to the eerie backyard of nonsensical contemplations, a realm one might naively call “reality”. You get back to work, the work that seems to never get anything done. You reason, reason all things, and then you question your reasons. If this, then that. This, because that. Now this then what? This is, but why? Exhaust your mind with endless trips of a sceptically arranged journey for what should or shouldn’t be. Hours and hours of survival labour. You work and eat to keep your flesh from decaying before its time. Doing what seems to have become a daily habit, you slip out of your thinking suit. Then you wake up and tell yourself to get back to work, back to that backyard of nonsensical contemplations. Before you know it, it will be time to retire your conscious and let the unconscious dwell on that tired mind of yours.

On its way out, your conscious happily recalls those moments…and the people in them come alive once more. You close your eyes and look at them for a second time. What if, you start to think… what if I had let that reservoir flood out and touch them? What if I spoke out those words? What if I had the power to make that moment last forever? Without you knowing it, you plant that moment into your backyard of nonsensical contemplations. You replay that moment in your head, imagining you had done all things right. As that person was standing before you, and your heart was releasing that reservoir of emotions, you look at them and let the tears fall, you swallow your pride, open your mouth and speak of the truth. “Don’t leave!” You plead holding onto the moment on the road. “Could you stay?” The sun rises in that moment, and the person in it reaches out to you.

You feel the warmth of their hand on your face, then you smile and send your hand to meet theirs. It’s warm, but wet. You open your eyes, only to find your hand wiping your own tears. Take a deep breath, dry your eyes and roll over. “You are on your own soldier!” You reassure yourself calling upon the sleep fairy. But the fairy is lost in your backyard. Since you have no gardener, you step out into your filthy backyard of nonsensical contemplations to clear off a way for your sleep fairy. This because of that…if that then this. You are back at work. The work that never gets anything done. But was it even possible to control that moment and make it last longer? You ask. Only if you owned it. You answer back. Now you wonder if you owned that moment. All this time, you thought you owned that moment, and that the person was in your moment, but no, you never owned that moment. That moment walked out on you, the person in it decided to leave you. That person controlled the moment, that person owned the moment. You were in that person’s moment, the moment which they chose not to hold on to.

For the first time in a while, you think, you actually got something done in this backyard of yours. Cleared a way for your sleep fairy to come visit you. Just like the moment that left, you say goodbye to “reality” for at least a few hours. Into a world of possibilities you walk, and you dream… dream away doing what you shouldn’t, saying what you couldn’t. If ever you owned a moment, you tell yourself, and trapped someone in it, make sure to set them free and let them have a moment of your moment. Share what you have because sometimes… a moment is all you get. Then, it’s gone!