The People I Have Been
rating: +33+x

Emma, don't be scared. I'm changing, yes. But we all change, every day. I am not the man I was yesterday. You'll be a very different woman in ten years than today. To tell the truth, I think this may be a small change, compared to some of the people I have been.

I've been petty, and I've been grand. I've craved the approval of others and hated them in turn. I've loved and I've scorned that love, in the years before I found you.

Oh lord, I'm growing, Emma! Look at that!

I've seen a march of faces in the mirror. Some smiling, some frowning, some bruised and bloody. I've been a soldier and a minister, a leader of men and a follower of causes. I've preached hellfire and harmony. I've said words profane and holy. I've been people I didn't like, and people I wish I could be again. But that's life, Emma. Life isn't static, it isn't frozen. Life doesn't stand still. It changes, and it changes us. This is just another step.

My teeth seem too big for my mouth. Ah, wait, the jaw is stretching. That's better.

And in time perhaps you'll join me. This isn't an ending for old Tom, this is just another step in the parade. We all become strangers, but that just lets us know each other again.

It's done now. The changes have stopped. Give me a hand, Emma. I want to know if I'll like this stranger in the mirror.

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