1

Lisa stands atop a 50-foot cliff overlooking the ocean. A light salty breeze caresses itself

through her auburn hair. She just stands there, staring off into the distance. She watches a

seagull plunge into the water in hopes of killing a fish. A lone tear traces the contours of Lisa’s

face. Unable to keep her emotions under control any longer, she collapses and lets turmoil take

over her mind. She reels in mental anguish. Screams echo off the cliffs, gulls scatter in fear as

her mind tosses her backwards in time.

The constant buzzing of Lisa’s alarm was going off for the third time, trying its best to

wake her up. Lisa cracked open her light brown eyes just long enough for them to tell her brain

how much longer she could allow herself to sleep. The alarm clock numbers were glowing like a

lighthouse calling warning to ships at sea. Entangled in the sheets, Lisa tried desperately to get

them off her legs, stumbled and caught herself inches from landing flat on the floor. Lisa,

showered in world record time and finished getting dressed in less time then fifteen minutes,

jumped into her VW Rabbit and sped off to work.

Lisa could feel the spray from the waves below, adding even more moisture to her

already tear laden face. All morning she resisted the urge to look straight down. Suddenly, she

had an overwhelming need to gaze downward at the protruding monoliths below.

Just as Lisa is about to return her gaze to the horizon, she spots a piece of metal flashing

in the dull sunlight, and she realizes its part of a car. Her emotional onslaught continues with

vengeance.

“Why?” Lisa sputters. “Wh. . . why. . . dd. . . di. . . did. . . ya. . . you. . . have to. . . le. . .

leave me so soon, Eric? Why?”

2

Lisa fell in love with Eric the moment he climbed off his motorcycle to giver her a

speeding ticket. A freeway romance. The uniform fit perfectly around Eric’s six-foot tall

muscular build. Rolling down her window, Lisa tired to think of something sarcastic to say.

“So, Officer? Are those spiffy glasses part of the uniform? Or can you take them off

without someone yelling, indecent exposure?”

“Very funny. Now, if you could find it in your comedic heart to hand over your license

and registration, please.” The officer replied with a little sarcasm of his own.

As Lisa fumbled around in her purse and glove compartment on purpose, she tried once

again to make small talk with the officer.

“While I’m searching from my registration, you could at least tell me what I did wrong,

Officer . . .?” Lisa waited for the policeman to offer his name.

“Kesson, ma’am. Eric Kesson.”

“You can call me Lisa, not ma’am. Lisa Dale.” As much as she wanted to flirt with the

officer, she also had to get to work.

“Do you think you could make this as quick and painless as possible? I’m kinda late for

work.”
“Tell you what, ma’am. . . Sorry. Lisa. I’ll let you off the hook this time. Only if you

promise not to tell anyone that I have a heart.”

“You got yourself a deal there, Tin Man.” Then on pure impulse and thinking that it

wouldn’t be too forward, Lisa threw Eric a piece of paper with her phone number on it. She left

him standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face as she went off to work. All day long,

Lisa could not think about anything else except what color eyes those sunglasses were hiding.

3

The sun finally broke through the clouds at 11:30 A.M. Flashes of sunlight glistened on

the water below distracted Lisa from her deep thought. For a moment she forgot all about Eric.

Then, she caught a glimpse of a patch of ocean that was the exact color of his eyes.

“Saltwater Green.” Answered Eric. “That’s what color I like to say my eyes are.”

“Well, I don’t care what you call them. I’m going to call them ‘beautiful.’” Lisa said

becoming totally entranced by his eyes.

“Wow,” Eric said sarcastically. “our first date and you’ve already given me a pet name.”

One date quickly turned into one year. It was as if they were destined to be together.

Two strangers, a chance meeting, bands of gold, and promises to stay forever faithful.

“So, Lisa?” Cindy asked her older sister. “What are you and Eric going to do for your

five year anniversary?”

Patting her stomach, Lisa looked at her sister and said, “We’re going to make you an

Auntie.” Lisa looked at her sister and teased, “Speechless, eh, Kid?”

“Kid? You haven’t called me that in years, Lisa.”

“Yeah, I guess now,” Lisa said rubbing her stomach. “I should start referring to you as

Auntie Cindy. Hey, before you get too nostalgic on me, I think we should head out the door.”

Laughing, the two sisters went to go shop for Eric’s present.

4

“Sergeant Kesson!” Boomed Captain Nicks. “Get in my office, NOW!” No less than two

seconds later, Eric appeared in the doorway to Captain Nicks’ office. “Close the door, Eric.”

Acknowledged the Captain.

Eric shut the door then asked, “So, Captain, what’d you want to see me about?”

“Damnit, Kesson.” Dan replied. “Today’s your anniversary, man. If you’re caught up

on your case load, knock off a few hours early so you can be with that wife of yours. Hell, I

know I’d like to.” Dan chuckled.

“You know, Dan? If you weren’t my best friend and my Captain, I’d hit you.” Eric

laughed slapping Dan on the back.

“Just get the hell out of the station band go to that lovely wife of yours.” Dan said

sounding just the tiniest bit jealous. “By the way, Eric? What’d you get her?”

“I charged a bunch of little trinkets and a reservation to one of the nicest restaurants in

town.” Then almost as an after thought, he added, “Lisa and I also decided to make you a

godfather. What do you say?”

“I. . . I don’t know.” Dan managed through his shock.

“Gee, Dan. How about, yes?”

Driving down a nearly deserted part of PCH, with mountains on one side and the Pacific

Ocean on the other, Eric let his mind wander about the names Lisa and he would call their child.

5

The ring from the telephone echoed throughout the house, it’s ring was still resounding

in Lisa’s head as Cindy drove them to the hospital. The steady hum of Cindy’s Mustang was

slowly calming Lisa down. By the time they arrived at the hospital, Lisa was as calm as could be

expected. The beeps of the equipment hooked up to Eric reminded Lisa of the electronic ring of

the telephone.

“Lisa? It’s Dan. . .” By the tone of Dan’s voice Lisa knew something was wrong.

“It’s Eric. Isn’t it? What happened?”

“Eric was on his way home and responded to a call. It was only a few miles away from

where he was. . . The perp was high on something, decided to carjack an eighty-year-old lady.

Killed her. Best we can figure, the guy panicked when Eric pulled up next to him. . . They both

went over the guardrail. . .” Dan’s voice trailed off into quiet sobbing. Lisa expected the worst.

“He’s dead, isn’t he. Eric, I mean. He’s gone. . .” Lisa whispered the shock of hearing

all this still not quite registering.

“He’s not expected to live through the night.” Dan managed. Calling for her sister

was the last thing Lisa could clearly remember.

As soon as the bag pipes finished squeezing out the last notes of “Amazing Grace,”

someone said everybody should brace themselves for the twenty-one gun salute. The shots rang

out, the casket lowered, the first handfuls of dirt, reality hit.

He’s really dead, thought Lisa. Gone forever. All our dreams, everything dead and

gone forever.

6

A river of tears forged a path through Lisa’s make-up, her emotional dam finally broken

with the realization that Eric was really dead. Up until now, everything had been like a

nightmare she couldn’t wake from. Lisa turned around to stare at the twisted metal that used to

be the guardrail. Death was all around her, animals killing one another just to stay alive, insects

preying upon each other, and man hunting down other men in the name of justice.

Staring at the rocks and pieces of what used to be Eric’s car, Lisa could only think of her

promise to stay with Eric forever. Taking a deep breath, Lisa takes a final look out over the

ocean and turns around when she hears someone calling her. Not seeing anyone there, Lisa

returns her gaze back towards the remains of the wreckage, and how much she loved her

husband, how little time they had together, what the years ahead could’ve held for them. Now, it

was all gone. In the blink of an eye, her life had changed. As the pain and remorse seemed

almost too much to handle, she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning around she saw her husband,

she embraced the figure which spoke in her sister’s voice.

“Com’on, Lisa.” Cindy comforted. “Little Eric is waiting for you.”

“I’ll be there in a second, Cindy. Just let me say one final good-bye.” Lisa turned back

around and said, “I know you’ll still be with me, Eric. I’ll love you. . . Forever.”