A Day Not Yet Forgotten

A Day Not Yet Forgotten

By Jean-Luc Preijers

         The man walks between the graves, the silence of the cemetary gives him a sense of foreboding, as if the very dead are telling him to go away. In his right hand, he holds a rose, and a lily, his Fiance's favorite flowers. As he walks, the rubber treads on his boots crush the soft, lush, green grass. A chill wind blows through the cemetary, forcing him to pull his leather windbreaker, the same one he wore when he proposed to his Fiance, tighter across his body. He passes row upon row of headstones and tombstones, crossing one aisle to the next, until he stands in front of one grave, and kneels down. His heart feels heavy, but he knows he owes it to her, to tell her. He's been avoiding this for weeks, but he knows the time is now, or never. He kneels down in front of the grave and places the rose and the lily upon the grass, the rose's soft petals close up tightly as if to ward of the chill. The tombstone reads:

KATHERYN CHILDS

BELOVED DAUGHTER AND FIANCE

1993-2015

MAY SHE REST IN PEACE

         Upon reading the headstone, tears stream down the man's face. Not able to hold back any longer, he begins to weep. A few minutes passes until he is able to stop. Looking back up at the headstone, he begins to speak in a choked voice, "Kathy...I don't know if you can hear me, but I just want you to be happy...wherever you are," he stops to wipe the cold tears from his eyes, and then he continues, "I just...I just want to go back to when we were happy. Do you...do you remember that day...that warm, sunny, August day...the day, when I proposed to you?"
         He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and speaks once more, his voice, a soft baritone. TO BE CONTINUED AT A LATER DATE. THIS IS NOT FINISHED. I THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.