The Last Light by JLJ

Original short story for this podcast written and performed by James Lott Jr

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
The Last Light by James Lott Junior. The sun was
just beginning to fade when Harold sat down in his
old wooden chair by the window, the same one he
kept by his side through decades of living. The house
was quiet now. The laughter, the noise, the arguments, and

(00:24):
the ordinary sounds of life had all gone, replaced by
a silence that didn't feel lonely anymore, just full. He
spent most of his life asking why, Why didn't things
go as planned? Why love left when he thought it
would stay. Why the people he cared about had to

(00:45):
go before he was ready. For years, those questions haunted him.
He played decisions like worn out film reels in his mind,
searching for different endings that never came. But now, with
the afternoon light softening into gold, he didn't feel the
need to question anymore, because somewhere along the way the

(01:07):
answers had arrived, quietly in pieces. He thought about the
job he'd lost in his forties that once broke him.
If he hadn't lost it, he never would have opened
that small repair shop where he met the woman who
become his wife. He remembered the heartbreak of losing her
too soon, but also how It taught him to cherished

(01:28):
time instead of fear it. He thought about his children,
scattered across the country, living the kind of lives he
used to dream about. They were his proof that love
at last distance. Harold smiled. He realized that everything, every stumble,

(01:49):
every loss, every detour, had been pushing him towards this piece.
It wasn't about perfection, it was about understand As the
final light of day slipped across his hands, he whispered,
it all makes sense now. The ache in his heart

(02:10):
didn't vanish, but it softened, the regrets quieted. He understood
that he didn't need to fix the past, he just
needed to forgive it. Harold leaned back, eyes half closed,
watching his sunset melt into the horizon, and for the
first time, he wasn't afraid. He was ready not to

(02:32):
give up, but to let go. Everything had happened for
a reason, and he knew deep down that he was
going to be okay.