The Passage of Time
By Betty

Dixie sat on a large smooth rock overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The cooling evening breeze blew off the water filling her senses with a heavy mix of salt and sea vegetation. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head as if looking skyward, and smiled.

'Time, it can be the most precious gift given to us and by the same token, it can be the cruelest.' 

Opening her eyes, she gazed out over the water and took in the beauty of the sun setting. Its sphere, dark orange took on the essence of flames rippling as it sinks below the horizon.

'Even though I sit here and watch you disappear, tomorrow you'll return, rise high in the sky and be as bright as ever, giving us both light and warmth.'

Drawing her legs up to her chest she let her chin rest on her knees and let her thoughts drift.

'It's not the end of the world, Dixie.'

The words echo over and over in her mind.

"How would they know? Doctors," she snorted. "They think they have an answer for everything."

'You're just as wise as you've always been…you're just…evolving.'

"Evolving," she snarled. "What do they take me for? I'm educated. I know my medicine. I know what's in store for me, hot flashes, mood swings. Why don't they just say it, I'm getting old. I'm past my prime."

'There are things you can do, to help.'

"I already wear light clothing. How do I explain the portable fan at the nurses' station," she said sighing. "I can see it now when the paramedics stop to say 'hi'. Nosy is what they'll be. All of them. Men, do they honestly think it's easy being a woman. Hell no, put any one of them in our position for 24-hours and they'd be crying…no…begging to be a man again."

'You'll get used to it before you know it.'

"Right and I give up caffeine and hot, spicy foods in the evening. I guess that nixes going out to my favorite Italian restaurant for dinner. But then who in the world would want to go out to dinner with an old woman like me, cranky as I have become. Hell, I've chewed Kel's head off everyday now for the past week. Not to mention snapping at my nurses and the paramedics."

'I can put you in touch with others who are going through and have gone through this, just so you can get a perspective.'

"A perspective," she laughed. "What does he take me for? Does he not realize? I guess not. After all, he's just a man. What would he really know about a woman's body? Sleeping nude can help reduce night sweat discomfort. And the use of vaginal lubricants, like any man would want to be with me considering how irritable I've been lately."

As the sun finally dipped below the water's edge, she blinked several times adjusting to the new illumination from the moon. "It's beautiful here, so peaceful. Everything looks so fresh and new. How will I get through this? I don't want to be the person I've recently become. I've hurt too many…good friends lately with my sharp tongue. I just want my life as I knew it, back, but I know realistically it's impossible. We all fall under the spell of time and there is nothing any of us can do to stop it. We just have to learn to adjust and live with it."

'It's not the end of the world, Dixie.'

"Dix."

She turned to look at the person who called her name, and smiled. Reaching out with her hand she gestured for him to come to her.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I am now, now that you're here."

Sitting next to his favorite nurse, Johnny gave her what she needed most at this moment in time, friendship.