{A Work In Progress}

Prologue

"To a loyal husband, father
& son,
Much loved, and very much missed."

'You died too soon.'

The words came out in a whisper, the figure who spoke them kneeling in front of a gravestone. Strands of brown, curly hair escaped the tie which held most of it out of her line of vision. Azure eyes were staring fixatedly at what was carved into the stone, looking almost distant, almost as if she were dead herself. Tears clung to her long eyelashes, threatening to fall at any given moment. Amidst the blackness of the night, she reached forward, holding in a gloved hand a single red rose. She laid it gently upon the earth infront of the grave. His grave.

'You weren't supposed to leave.'

She sighed lightly when she spoke, ignoring her tears now.

'You said you'd be back.'

Her hands clenched into fists. She needed to calm herself.

'But you aren't, are you? You're gone.'

She stood, pulling her cloak tightly around herself as the chilly winds whipped about her. She didn't like the Winter.
'...And you're not going to come back.'

There was a pause as she turned. She stopped mid-step to stare at the memorial before her; flowers littered the ground around it, notes written by other townspeople, by herself, by her children in their infantile scrawl. He could read it, chicken scratch or no.

'Goodnight.'

She disappeared through the mist looming around the small churchyard, heading home. The nightly ritual was over until the sun set again.