The return.

Silence now, James appreciates it.
His foot steps fall silent, muffled by the thick bed of autumn leaves. The day is over cast, everything blended into a pristine, uniform shade of gray. The rain was falling, gently as it often does in the fall, coating everything in a cold damp blanket. The echoing, almost unheard music of the land plays it's harmony of acceptance to his ears. It seems at times as if the land is alive. A sentient entity, fully aware of the long sleep winter is about to bring. Aware of the events and occurrences the summer held. An unnoticed observer to the procession of time. It seems to mourn the passing of another season with this silent, complete acceptance.
He passes under an archway of locust trees, the slender trunks rising from the ground make a nearly impenetrable canopy of intertwined branches, branches covered in thorns long enough to stab clean through a persons finger if it went astray. Down the covered path he walks like a person who's feet tread a path they know by heart. It seems as if they carry him to a destination that has been predetermined. His eyes pass over the scene, with the glazed look of some who is looking at a different picture, if only in their mind.
Despite the atmosphere, and the lack of humanity in the unfriendly wilderness, in this landscape barren of anything kind, he finds peace. Among the rolling grassy hills, almost desert like, his thoughts settle his mind clears, and the burden on his heart lifts in this most dismal of environments. He smiles as a cold wind whips out rouge strands of his hair to flare out and lash at the back of his skull.
He walks past a boulder, dead strands of once lush grass cling desperately to the lower portion like the fingers of the dead grasping in vain at the last object of their earthly desire. It is with some regret that he leaves the stark beauty of the locust grove behind.
He walks down a path, the dust made on hot summer days by the tramping of peoples feet is now turned to a slick dark mud. The small sand beach below, still adorned with a broken fire ring from nights spent in merriment long past has the feel of a lone sentinel. The last physical manifestation capable of telling those come late that this place once contained joy, it once thrived. People once realized their dreams here. In calm defiance, it alone seems to bare witness to what was.
Neglected, lost, and forgotten lies a once bright yellow top amongst the brambles. James thinks back, he could have guessed the beautiful young woman who once wore it if he had tried to. James blinks, for a long moment and walks to the river bank. His gaze distant now, as if his detachment is growing. The sweet embrace of the past rises up and holds him tight. He remembers gentler times. He remembers laughter, he remembers the comfort of her embrace, the angelic nectar that was her kiss. He remembers what bliss truly was.
When he opens his eyes again and looks up, he does not see the barren landscape. He does not see the gray featureless sky. He does not see the gray beach, or the dead land around him. He looks upon a warm river, reflecting soft rays of amber sunshine. He looks at soft and vibrant young body's splayed on a golden beach. He witnesses friends loving, caring, and sharing with each other. With a shudder in the cold unrelenting wind he see's her. He looks at her as she used to be. Full of life, full of love. Standing alone on the beach beckoning to him. In an over powering rush the past comes tumbling forcefully into the present, almost cruel in it's clarity. An unformed sound escapes his lips, and his eye's shine with unshed tears. Not tears of sorrow, or regret. But tears of sincere joy, a deep seeded thankfulness that fate allowed him this parting gift.
Banishing all thoughts of what came after, how her face became haunted, how her body had wasted away, he grabs a hold of the peace he once shared with her and holds it tightly to his heart. He lifts his chin, his eyes ablaze, his heart burning once more for her as it had in times long past. The world dissolves and he can feel the warmth, taste the sweetness of that heaven he had been fortunate enough to glimpse. It is with an open heart and restored mind that he proceeds. As he plunges into the icy water the vision does not fade, nay, it sharpens. His lips part as he sheds his tears unnoticed in the oblivion around him. His apathetic heart thawed and revived completely, his being seems incapable of containing the eruption of emotions. Taking the water into his lungs even as he says it. Though no one hears, one last time he says it aloud. "I love you." He leaves this world with a smile on his face, and her name on his lips.