“I want to show you something,”
he says as she steps inside.
The door clicks,
leaving them alone in the house.
She trails behind him as he leads her into
the living room.
She sits next to the crackling fireplace
and listens to the
wind beat against the house.
He walks down the hall
and returns moments later,
holding a thick white book.
He sits cross legged,
close to her
and sets the book in her lap.
He stares at her as she runs her hand over the
glossy, blank cover.
“What is it?” she asks,
meeting his intense stare.
He pulls half of the book into his lap and says
“It’s everything.”

Without further explanation,
he opens the book.
Color soaks the pages,
filled with emotion.
Each page reeks with the aroma of
a different mood.
Every space radiating
life.

The book comes to life,
crawling out into the room
and spreading like fire.
Pictures and
stories and
scenes of his life.
Every day he’s every
been through.
Every secret he’s ever kept.
Every lie he he’s ever told.
Ever sin he’s ever committed.
In her hands.

She snaps the mystical book shut
and clutches it to her chest.
He meets her stricken gaze
and breathes in deep.
“I have nothing to hide from you.
I want you to know everything I have been,
everything I am,
and hopefully you’ll still want to know
everything I can be.”