This is Now

An ordinary Monday, at an ordinary bank, in an ordinary town. There was no way of knowing what was about to happen.

Afterwards, the first thing Martha thinks about is a drink. She reads her six reasons why she shouldn’t; the ones she wrote over a year ago. Two of the reasons are the same. A name. She didn’t think she’d ever see him again.

Tobias was a boy when the bombs dropped in Dresden, in February 1945. Now, old and alone, he lies in a hospital bed where the memories he’s been running from all his life are insistent visitors.

Roman, a fourteen year old Polish immigrant, is on the run. From the police. From Jimmy and his gang. He understands now, what it means to be caught between a rock and a hard place. Mama had said that everything would be different in Ireland. Better. She was wrong.

Cillian, a detective, finds himself back in Dublin, investigating a bank robbery. His girlfriend plans their future as she awaits his return. But the past is like a current, pulling him back, reminding him of all he’d had. All he’d lost.

Each of them is running from the moments that brought them here. To a place where the past cannot be undone and the future cannot be known.

A place called now.