A brief short on what I call The Balance, used for good:
He was nervous when he left. Big day, a presentation that would be the culmination of months of work, weeks of overtime, uncounted hours of stress. It all came down to one day, and this meeting.
His grin slipped a little as he said goodbye. “Here’s hoping things work out.”
I reached out and touched his right hand, just above the silver circle I’d given him. He laughingly referred to as his magic ring. I felt a spark.
“You’ll be fine,” I said.
I could tell he wasn’t convinced, but I meant it.
My own day was a maelstrom of mishaps. I sloshed hot water on the stairs and watched helplessly as a raw egg slipped from my fingers to break over the fridge drawer, the freezer seals, and the floor. Emptying the dishwasher was a humbling lesson in the fragile properties of glass and ceramic.
That’s okay, I thought. Worth it.
He came home exhausted but happy. Everything that could go wrong, didn’t.
“Somehow,” he said.
I smiled.
“Just lucky, I guess.”
* * *
J.R. Johnson 
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