A playground on Bryce Road

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"Well, what is it that you really want?"

Stephany's question echoed its way through Bryan's mind, scratching at the corners of his subconsious in a vein attempt to unearth an answer. He began to think of his first wife, Samantha. He remembered the soft touch of her hands reaching behined his neck, her fingers running through his hair as he held her in his arms. He still remembered their first kiss, standing outside the front door of her inner city appartment, in the light drizzling rain of a sun shower, running his hand across her face to clear a stray hair from her eyes. But all that was gone now, the fire extinguished, the ash carried away by the wind. Samantha had moved on and had started a new life with a new man, whilst Bryan had perservered on his own.

Bryan wanted to feel that human touch again. That's what he wanted above all else. He longed for that day to come when he could tear down this lonely prison he had built for himself. To regain the spirit of living he had left behined.

Bryan stared intently into Stephany's eyes for what to him seemed like an eternity.

"I want..."

The right words had escaped him, his eyes leaving hers momentarily as he gathered his thoughts. Speaking no longer as Bryan West the smuggler, but rather, as the human being on the inside, he continued.

"I want to be happy, truely happy... And I'm not talking about having a good time or those small things that make you happy for just a breif moment. I'm talking about waking up in the morning proud of the person you are... And of where you are in life."
Bryan slowly stretched out his left hand towards her right hand, palm facing up.

"It's taken me a few year to realize that I can't do that alone. I want somebody, not for tonight, but for the rest of my life. I want to spend the rest of my life making that special someone happy."

Bryan paused as he reflected on his own words. "I hope that's not too scary" he added, a smile cracking his sinscere face.