Hearts United

         Save the occasional crackling of the flames raging in old fireplace, the room was dead silent. Pictures and paintings of a man and his wife covered every inch of its walls. Pictures of vacations, picnics, and dates, all of which expressed the deep connection the couple had with each other. With red sparks dancing across his shirt stood the man from these photographs. His head hung low, gazing at two small objects held carefully in each hand.
         Looking in his left hand, he stared intently into the image contained in the silvery frame. Traveling into the past, this time machine allowed him to visit memories long ago. Memories almost close enough to feel her loving embrace and gentle kisses, yet just far enough beyond his grasp to actually relive. To the right, his eyes flowing over words written so delicately on the heart-shaped parchment, he held a valentine that radiated feelings of a heart once shared and love so preciously given. He cried.
         His tears soon transformed into blue flames, as did the fire before him. They began to reach away from him, curving outward, then pulling back around him, creating a heart of fire. Looking up, he watched a faint light appear to his right. Beginning to take form, the aurora assumed the figure of a young, delicate, and beautiful woman. With eyes opening wide, tears stopped falling from the man's face. He let go of the frame, the glass shattering on contact with the hard, wooden floor. It was her.
         She reached out to take his hand.
         “It's time sweetheart,” she whispered in a chilled voice.
         “I've been waiting for you all this time,” the man gently spoke, with a quiver in his voice. “I've been waiting for the moment I would see your face once again”
         “Come,” she beckoned, twisting her hand till the palm faced up.
         He released the letter in his right hand, and clutched her outstretched palm, as if he was to never let go again. His physical body falling below him, he began to float upward. As they ascended through the ceiling of the old house, the valentine slowly drifted to the fireplace, till it reached the flames. The fire burning through the letters, it read:

My dear sweetheart,
My love for you, greater than any force of mother nature herself,
will last long past the death that awaits me. Know that the years
with you were well spent, and I have no regrets. You gave me your world,
and I was glad to have lived in it. Though I will be away for a period of time,
fret not, for I will come back for you. Nothing can separate us, not even death itself.
Our hearts are forever united.