Dark and Stormy Night

. “It was a dark and stormy night.”
These words rang through his thoughts as he silently sits in the stillness of his own mind. He thought intently on the words as he glared at the poster that hung before him. The same poster that hung in the quiet office for years!
The words burrowed deep into the catacombs of his mind. Each moment brought a new sense of clarity as well as confusion. Why did the story have to begin in the darkness? He thought to himself. His eyes squinted at the poster one more time as if he was even absorbing the words into the softness of his heart. “Why did my story have to start in the darkness?” He thought to himself aloud.
He thought of her. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He thought of their meeting at work. He thought of the countless lunches they shared in her classroom. His mind filled with lovely dinners and movie nights filled with warm embraces. He recalled her head resting on his shoulder as they relaxed on a park bench. The kids playfully passed back and forth around them. Daily they bonded, they knew each other. They became inseparable……Until something separated them.
Love!
Now, He sat remorseful in this quiet office, looking at the words, “It was a dark and stormy night.” With each passing memory his eyes filled with emotion that he fought to control.  “I never wanted to lose you.” He whispered to himself. He could still see her as if she were standing right beside him. “At the end of it all, all I can say is I loved you.”
His mind filled with the darkest memories of the previous months; the critical moments that he realized that he has lost her. These moments plagued him! They tortured the core of him too often, leaving him in a heap of broken piece to sweep off of the floor and reassemble.
“Too often I feel this way. I allow a singular thought of you heave me into the pits of my own personal darkness, leaving me to ask the question: Why did my story have to start in the darkness?” He spoke to himself as he strolled through the little room. Every few steps or so he would pivot his head to the poster, re-read the words and ponder upon them further.
“I was supposed to start here, in this darkness. These thoughts were meant to enter my mind and infest my every contemplation. I start here. The darkness surrounds me and in many cases consumes me, but the darkness has yet to kill me.”
He smiled for a moment. He smiled a smile of hope, a smile of strength. “You see, I fell into this pit of darkness for the sole purpose of overcoming the grim circumstance.  It was never going to kill me. This covering of darkness was placed over me to make me stronger.”
As he sat back at his desk, he looked in front of him, where he had a yellow legal pad and an open Bible laying on the large oak desk. He picked up a nearby pen and penned his final thought.
“This whole story may have started in the storm. It may have started in the darkness, but it will not end there. I will not end there. I will rise out of this storm!”
He thought of her. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He thought of their meeting.  His mind filled with lovely dinners and movie nights filled with warm embraces. He recalled her head resting on his shoulder as they relaxed on a park bench. The kids playfully passed back and forth around them. He thought of the sunshine that he would soon see again.
He smiled.
“The story starts in the storm. It will not end there. Remember, the beginning of the story is only the beginning.”