Memories

A flash story about a widow's reflection.

She sat alone in the green field on that chilly October morning. She had been there through the night, talking to the small bouquet of red and white roses that rested softly on the gravestone beside her. It had been over two years since he had died, but she still mourned his loss with the same passion, if not more for the increase of lost time.He was her everything and she would not leave his side. Every day, she would come to the headstone and lean against it gently, quietly telling him about everything that happened during her day. After that, she'd tell him how much she missed him and that soon, she would join him. He always told her that he would wait an eternity for her and to not worry about it when he was gone, because he would be there when she arrived too.

It had been a regular day like all the rest, but a quick twist of events and he was gone, just like that. At the drop of a pin, he would wait for her in a different place. Even though he was gone from this earth, violently ripped from her, she remembered. She would never forget the man he was.

The woman laid down next to the grave and smiled, beginning to tell him about what she remembered...

"There was that time when we first met. At our high school, back 15 years, 2 months and 14 days ago. We were both in awe of each other. We stood there like baffling idiots until the teachers came and got us for class." She laughed a little. "The bell had even rung and we hadn't heard it. You never did understand the concept of time, did you? You always said I never really helped with time's definition. I remember, way back then, how you smiled that first time you saw me. I could never forget. Those bright green eyes watching with so much stupid love. That's how you described it. 'I was immediately and undeniably in love with you,' you'd say. In that moment, when our eyes connected, I swore to heaven above that you'd be mine. You said you wanted the same thing."

She sighed heavily as the rain began to gently sprinkle down on the cool green grass of the surrounding earth. "I remember those times where it was pouring cats and dogs, but you didn't care. You just picked me up and took me out there and both of us got so soaked. Absolutely soaked. You ruined so many of my good shirts. You murdered my watch and you never said sorry." She smirked at her words. "You never apologized. You simply found it as a reason to not leave me because it was just more debt you never wanted to repay to me. You know, you always found a way to get in debt to me. Even a simple conversation with you was something you counted towards your list. Not that I really wanted you to get out of debt. I actually never considered you in debt to me because you were always there for me. You were always there to listen to every problem I had and every trivial imperfection I found with the world. You listened to all that, and at the end of the night, you snuggled up to me just as happy as the night before. I miss your arms around me. I miss everything about you. I'll always be grateful to you for the time we had. I love you, John, and I miss you everyday."

She got up as the sun set over the tree-topped hills of the graveyard. She silently traced his name in the stone and then walked back to her car and, with one last look at the mossy slate, returned home to her 2-year-old boy.