A long journey home.

This is about some of the difficult journeys we travel in life. The inspiration came from my wife recently being diagnosed and beating cancer.

I looked up as you stepped back into the waiting room. The clock stopped ticking.Your eyes were wider than normal and your mouth was closed tightly as if to protect me from your thoughts.You looked at me wantingly, closed your eyes and slowly shook your head. I had nothing to give.At that moment the lights dimmed and I broke down. It was pitch black outside with just the moonlight illuminating the puddles on the pavement like they were portals to another world . A cold wind lashed out at our ankles as we walked in silence, bar the odd sniffle and clearing of throats. We huddled tightly , our arms interlocked and our hoods up over our heads as much to stop our true selves getting out than to stop the elements getting in .We were numb to the cold anyway. We walked side by side and my steps mirrored yours.I wish now that I had carried you. Onwards and the wind gathered volume and pace as the cars raced by us , sporadically flooding us in a blurr of light as our faces were hit with a thousand shards of icy rain and our tired eyes reflected the empty shells within. At times it felt like the wind might get the better of us, like we should just fall back and let it carry us off , meandering through the ether like flecks of dust hypnotised by the warm glow of candle light. So easily could we have been swallowed up, but we stood firm while the ground under our feet was quickly softening. Occasionally our arms unlocked and we would follow different paths , our silhouettes sometimes engulfed by the twisted shapes of winter branches thrashing , bowing and dancing to mother nature's tune. While I slipped , sank and struggled with the boggy ground I never lost sight of you or your brittle determination to reach our destination. Those last few milestones were the hardest, our minds made weary with the distance travelled and the painfully familiar faces which we had seen along the way , each one dredging the hurt which we had tried to bury deep, stirring the silt and muddying our thoughts , while somehow keeping our route navigable. Yet still we strived forwards until finally we arrived. I looked up as they called your name in the waiting room. You were already halfway to the door, but I soon matched your pace. Inside your eyes were brighter than normal, your mouth smiling widely as we eagerly planned our next journey.The clock sprung into life as we finally made our way home.