: The alarm clock kept blinking 12:00 over and over, the power had gone out again. I rolled over pulling the blanket tighter around me. The room had cooled off significantly since I went to bed. The warmth of my bed was like a bed of coals in the cold of winter. Nevertheless sleep was evading me, after several minutes I decided to get out of bed. I threw off the covers and the cold harsh air enveloped me instantly. A deep shiver travelled through my whole body. I reached for the nightstand to check the actual time on my phone. The tiny numbers on the screen shone brightly in my face. 2:13 am. Great I didn’t even sleep four hours. Sleep didn’t ever come easy with her gone. I sat on the end of the bed, slipped my feet into my house slippers and stood up with a large stretch. I slipped my phone into my pants pocket and made my way into the hall. The house had an eerie feeling this hour of night. My footsteps creaked along the wood floor, there was no reason to try and be quiet the house was empty. No more trying to sneak from the bedroom to the bathroom or the kitchen, she always caught me trying to have a midnight snack. : As I turned the corner and entered the kitchen I noticed that the clock wasn’t blinking, it also didn’t show 12:00, it was reading 2:15 am. Weird if the power had gone out then why wasn’t the clock in the kitchen reset as well? Probably just a coincidence, I walked to the fridge and started to pull out the ingredients I needed for my favorite late night snack. I placed the condiments and the deli meat on the counter and grabbed the loaf of wheat bread off the far counter. I placed it on the counter next to the rest of the food. I opened the bag, grabbing the first two slices of bread and placed them on the counter. Then I grabbed a knife from the knife rack and opened the jar of mayo. I slathered it onto one slice of bread. I threw the knife in the sink, opened the package of turkey and grabbed a few pieces. I layered them haphazardly onto the bread. Next was the cheese, I normally went with a slice of American cheddar, but there hadn’t been any in the house since she left. So I used a little bit of provolone, it probably wouldn’t change the taste much. I grabbed the other slice of bread and was about to set it on top of the sandwich, when I got a feeling it needed more. I looked to the cabinet next to the fridge, inside was her candy shelf. Full of sweets and candies that she would never let me have. Several times I had thought of sneaking a piece or two, especially now with her gone. But my love for her was strong enough that I still honored her wish even after she was gone. This time, this time would be different, I didn’t care if the sandwich would taste good. It is going to be the sandwich that gets me over her. I have been doing this for so long, acting like she wasn’t gone. But this would be it, this would be the moment that she no longer controlled my heart. I went to the cabinet and opened it, my heart was racing. I closed my eyes and I grabbed the first thing that my fingers touched. I pulled my hand back, my reward in hand. I opened my eyes and saw that I managed to grab a bar of chocolate, rich milk chocolate from the mountains of Switzerland. This was one of her favorite ones, it would be perfect. I walked back over to the counter where the sandwich sat, unsuspecting of its next enhancement. I placed two small squares of chocolate on top of the cheese. I then placed the other slice of bread on top of the chocolate. : That was when the light hit me. It was blinding, a burning light that appeared from out of nowhere. And as soon as it was there it was gone. In its place was a man, short of stature and a bit older than myself. He looked at me shocked, excited, and gasping for air. : “Do you know what you have just done!” the man exclaimed. He lunged toward the counter placing his hands on the counter top and leaning forward over it. “You have just created the best sandwich in the world!” he smiled a childlike smile full of pristinely white teeth. Yet again he gasped for air. “This air is so fowl,” he stopped his excitement faded, “I can’t stay longer my lungs cant handle the abuse.” : “Who are you?” I asked, standing frozen in my own kitchen, my mind reeling with the past few moments. “Why are you in my house? Better yet how did you get in my house?” The man stopped realizing he hadn’t explained himself. : “Ahh, I am Aven Humphrey, I am a culinary historian. From the future, five hundred years from now to be precise.” He spoke with an air of supremacy that left a bad taste in my mouth. “And you sir, you have just created the best sandwich ever! Your combination of turkey, provolone, and Belgian chocolate formed to make a sandwich that taste like hope feels!” The man was so excited that his breathing had become ragged, “You should know that your life will never be the same, I know your entire life’s work. You are days away from being one of the richest men in the history of the world. I must go now, but please do not eat that sandwich, it needs to be shown to the world!” He leaned back, pulled a small device from his pocket and punch in a few numbers. : “Wait! I have one question.” I shouted to the man, “If you know my whole story, then you know that my wife just passed away. I…I wanted this sandwich to be a sort of final good bye. If I can’t eat it then tell me. In the future am I ever happy?” The man stopped, and looked me deep in the eye. : “I can tell you only this, in a world where everyone is happy from eating this sandwich there was only one man that never found happiness.” He hit the button on his device and the thing started to spin up. “That man was you.” The flash of light burned just as brightly this time, but not as much as the tears in my eyes. I looked at the sandwich, the one destined to make everyone but me happy. My final goodbye to her. If eating it wouldn’t help me then what would. I leaned down, took the sandwich in both my hands and took a large bite. It hit me like a wave of flavor, the turkey with the chocolate, the cheese melting in between, and the mayo and wheat finishing it off. I smiled, the smile that only a man that had come to terms could have. I walked slowly to the hallway, to the foyer. I took the step up on the chair that had been there for weeks. I slipped the rope loosely around my neck. As I stepped up on the back of the chair, the rope cinching down around my neck. I pushed off the chair, still smiling. The final thought in my head, was how I would finally see my wife again, Aven had been wrong, I have found happiness, not in the sandwich but in release…