What happened to us?

A friend told me about a dream. She said a man and woman were standing on either sides of a door and the door closed between them. When the man saw the door closing he ran to stop it but was too late. He hung onto the door knob and cried and begged for it to open and then the door knob disappeared and he really lost it. He said he wanted more time and that he felt lost and alone without her. He crumpled to the floor in front of the door and cried because he had waited too long, taken too much time. Each night the dream repeated. Sometimes he was quicker getting to the door than other times but inevitably the door shut and without a door knob he couldn't open it.

Then one night the dream changed. A box with a glass front appeared. On it was written "For Emergency Use". When the door closed that night, he broke the glass on the box and found hinges, screwdriver and what he needed to "fix" the door so it would open again. He said he wanted to talk and he asked, "What happened to us?" The door closed but he stuck his foot in the door and refused to let go, asking his questions over and over while the woman on the other side cried. He was more in control than on previous nights when he couldn't open the door with the door knob gone, but he was still distraught, unable to understand what had happened.

Since she told me that story I have wondered if he really didn't know what happened between them, how they lost what was once so precious to them. He obviously doesn't understand about how quickly time passes and how empty words are when the words aren't followed by meaningful action. If the man is like so many men -- and women -- I have know, the answer to his question is easy.

What happened to us? Fear.