The old man opens the projector room door, under his left arm he holds his life’s work, he enters the dimly lit room and places the reel down on the table near the door, closing the door behind him, he wanders over to the small peek window and looks down, the cinema below him is full of old friends and family, he can feel the anticipation and excitement of the people below, and it fills him with pride.
Everything must be perfect, they can wait a few minutes longer he thinks, he places the reel on the editors bench and looking through the magnifying lens, he winds the reel on, checking each frame one last time, such pride for a life well lived, he reaches to where would be close to half of the film but is startled by a dark figure emerging from the shadows of the room.
He cannot make out physical features, but the shadow moves closer, as it stretches out a hand he sees the blurred edges of a pair of scissors, and it snaps the film in half. “No!” he shouts in shock, but the figure gathers the cut film, turns, and slowly disappears back into the shadows.
Sitting stunned for what must have been more than a minute, the old man begins to comprehend the magnitude of what had just happened. There’s a knock at the door “Ready when you are!” a voice calls out from behind the door, and he remembers the waiting crowd below, panic sets in, he rummages incoherently through the old cardboard boxes of film on the shelves in the room, knocking over boxes without care, he must find something to finish his masterpiece with, but nothing, not a single frame shot of there later years together.
Not concerned anymore about the waiting crowd below, he runs to the door, opens it and stumbles into the passage, down the stairs, feeling the deep red wall to wall carpeting burn his finger tips, he can’t seem to move quick enough.
Entering the foyer the smell of popcorn and the glares of the counter hands are left behind him as he pushes through the large glass doors out into the night.
Its raining outside, not hard, but enough to have turned the night street into glaze, the traffic outside buzzes past him, the headlights mirrored on the wet night street, he runs, almost falling every few steps, but as fast as his old body will carry him towards her restaurant, not too far from the movie house, she might be there, she didn’t want to watch the premiere with all of them, she had said, “the following night we will make it just the two of us, alone in the cinema, like the old days” she said.
Turning the handle on the restaurant door seemed like just another irritating obstacle that he had to complete before he could see her, but getting inside proved another waist of his time, and panic turned to frustration, no one at the restaurant could tell him where she was, she might be at home, in there apartment.
Out back into the night he pushed, his old body ached as the cold wet clothes clung to it, always practical, always planning there future around an elderly age, they had chosen an apartment close to her restaurant, and his movie house, but it felt forever, and the rush of adrenalin that fueled his body to the restaurant had now left him, his lungs burned with exhaustion, his heart pounded inside his rib cage, “Please, not too far now” he mumbled.
Sliding the key into the lock of the front door, he turned the brass knob and burst inside, ignoring the little white cats advances for affection he ran from room to room, shouting her name, nothing, empty, where could she be?
The cinema had no doubted emptied by now, he didn’t care about the film anymore, or finishing it, all he wanted was to hold her, and know that everything was alright.
He ran over to the window, slammed it open, the rain and icy cold wind pelted his old face, and he shouted into the night “Where are you! Where are you!” he was answered with only more wind and rain, he slumped down into the old chair next to the window, his body drained, he let his head fall into his hands in despair, the salty taste of his sobbing mixing with the rain on his cheeks crept slowly into his mouth.
“where are you” he mumbled to himself softly “where are you”
