Seconds

Christmas Balls (c) in medias res by Melinda Kucsera

Seconds

(Picks up where The Nutcracker left off)

Nolo paused, caught half in, half out; a spy
arrested by a scar, he’d come seconds
too late to prevent; he’d saved the Kid’s eye,
but not his face, too late by mere seconds.

Yet just in time to save Sarn’s life, just so
he could wreck it at sixteen by getting
a girl with child. ‘Till that tree’s just so,
that child is constantly rearranging.

He was at it now though he’d enlisted
help with the high branches and there they stood,
young father and son, as the tree listed.
A ball dropped, knocked free by small hands, not good.
The ball hung for a second, magic clasped,
then it rose; only seconds had elapsed.

 ~ ~ ~

The story continues in Light the Tree.

I couldn’t do this one from Sarn’s perspective because he has no concept of time unless there’s a bell chiming the hours or a sun wandering in the sky. Even then, he still has trouble reckoning the hour. His master, who is fostering him at the moment, has a very good grasp of time and he had some complaints he wanted to air. So this one’s from his perspective.

~ ~ ~

For assignment #4 of Poetry 101 and also as part of my ongoing Advent series featuring the cast of the Curse Breaker Saga. This offering is #7.5 in the series. You can find the rest in order on my Holiday page. You can also find non-holiday themed vignettes on my Tales of Shayari page.

Thank you for reading.

 

31 thoughts on “Seconds

    1. Thank you; I wasn’t certain if it was cohesive. In my head it made sense while I was walking but that might have been the cold and the night tricking me. Thanks for putting my mind at ease. I can turn in now and maybe sleep…

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