Lock and Key

     The second day in Paris we stumbled upon this bridge, literally and figuratively.  Still reeling from jet lag we stood dis-cumbumbled at the site of hundreds, maybe thousands of locks on an overpass near Notre Dame. Several seconds passed before our daughter realized what the mish-mash stood for.

     "Oh!  I heard about this place.  Apparently people get a lock to engrave their name and someone else's on the front.  Someone they love.  Then they put it here and throw away the key."

The site begged for a posting yet the writing urge passed...until today. The words arrived after the recent layer offered about Wide Open Heart.

     I realize you've brought this love information before.

     "Yes."  

     I'm dumber than a rock apparently.

     "One meal cannot feed an entire life."

     That's an understatement.

    "It is a process of acceptance."

     Guess I'm a snacker.

     "Memories arrive when you are ready."

The picture tumbled into view.

     Bound and locked.

     "Love is simple."

     Simple is probably the last word I would have used. 

Having found the key, I inserted it into the lock binding my love treasure.

     CREAACCCCCkkkkkkkk

The lock rasped loudly each time I remembered to open it.  In the ensuing days the rust gave way and the sound grew softer.  

     A client arrived requesting work on scar tissue from open heart surgery.

     Seriously.

     I'm creative, but even I couldn't make this shit up.

     "I feel a pulling whenever I try to breathe too deeply or press my shoulders back."

     Me too!

His chest had been laid open once on an operating table while mine was sans anesthesia in emotional mayhem several times in the past 5 decades.  

     Either way...OUCH.

Engaging the tissue I waited for it to respond.  Finally, memory of pliability returned. 

     Finally memory of pliability returned.

     "Well done."

     Grasshopper rested between stalks of grass, noticing the wide open space of a meadow ahead.  It appeared to be empty but the small insect hesitated.

     A bird may swoop in and eat me.

The view continued to tantalize while the fretting continued.

     It is beautiful, but I may perish!

Her vibrant green legs twitched with a restrained desire to leap.  Earth steadily rotated, Wind continued to rustle foliage and Sky changed colors as Life carried on.

     "Life waits for no one, not even you."

      But it may hurt!

      "Hush little one, hush yourself and leap."