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Wound Down
Amelia with the pretty braids sat still with her pair of puppies. Well, they weren’t quite her puppies yet, though she knew her father would agree to them. At 9, she was the perfect age for spoiling, and at 61, he had few reasons to deny her anything. As he walked toward her on that hillside, his eyes lingered on her face. So young, so pure, he prayed her days would stretch on forever. Surely, his would not. A recently diagnosed arrhythmia had all but sealed his fate, and as his clock wound down—as his heart thundered like a hummingbird’s—all he wanted in the world was for his daughter to be happy. She watched him approach, but he did not let her speak. Instead, he knelt beside his girl, placed a hand atop each pup’s head, and whispered, “Let’s name them Now and Forever.” Words by BJ Hollars. Audio narration by Jan Larson. Audio recording by Scott Morfitt. |