Paris, 1950 — Her Voice
There was a man standing on the bridge of the Seine River.
Even from afar, he stood out — calm, certain, a quiet sort of strength.
He wore a long black coat, and when I passed him, I caught a glimpse of his eyes —
gray, like a storm that had long passed, but left the sky changed forever.
He smiled. It was sincere. And somehow, it stilled the night.
It was drizzling.
Paris was dim but alive — the glow of lampposts, the hum of soft saxophone from a nearby café, the sound of heels echoing across wet cobblestones.
“I see you here often,” I said. “Always staring at the river.”
He turned, voice steady and low:
“Because it’s peaceful,” he said.
“It doesn’t rage or retreat. It flows in one direction — forward.
Not clinging to the past.
Not stopping to dwell in despair.
Just moving.
Toward hope.
Toward healing.
Toward a God who never leaves,
even in the rain.
Even in the waiting.”
I blinked back tears.
He looked tired — not the kind you sleep off, but the kind you live through.
Still, he carried hope like a lantern.
So I stood beside him.
No more words were shared.
We just listened — to the rain, to the saxophone,
to the people laughing as they passed,
and to the river — steady, certain, flowing.
Paris, Present Day — His Voice
I am older now.
The bridge has aged, and so have I.
But I still come here — to the Seine.
I used to stand here alone.
A soldier without war. A man without reason.
But somehow, in the middle of my unraveling, I found love.
I didn’t come for it. I didn’t expect it.
But God is like that —
quiet, surprising, faithful.
I remember her — young, bright, full of life.
But not when we first met.
That night, she found me broken.
And instead of walking away, she stood beside me.
She just stayed. And in that silence, I began to heal.
I told her why I watched the river.
How life had hurt me.
How I no longer believed in rising.
And somehow, she made me believe again.
Now I come here not for solace —
but gratitude.
The Seine still flows — forward, steady, full of grace.
And though she’s gone now,
I know where it leads.
Because the river moves in one direction.
And so do I —
toward the day I’ll see her again.
Ember - Fire and Soul 