Until the Last Rose Dies (268 Words)

As Rose sat at her vanity, applying her makeup, her cat, Dusty, brushed against her legs, letting her know that she had not yet fed him this evening.  Dusty was really particular about getting fed at around the same time every evening.  Rose knew this, so she stopped what she was doing and got up to feed him.

Just as she was placing the food bowl down, her cell phone rang.  It was her boss asking if she could cover someone’s shift at the store.  Apparently, one of the employees went into labor three weeks early in the middle of their shift and they were desperately looking for someone to cover for them.

Sighing in frustration at having to work on her night off, she called her boyfriend to let him know that they would have to postpone their date to another evening.  He sounded so disappointed that they would not be able to go out, but he said he understood.

After her shift was over that evening, Rose came home to find a bouquet of flowers sitting on her doorstep.  The note attached read, “I will love you until the last rose dies.”  It was from her boyfriend.  There were a dozen beautiful long-stemmed roses and one black silk rose in the center.  She smiled to herself as she breathed in the scent of the flowers.  She walked in the door, petted Dusty, who sat on the back of the couch, and went to her vanity to remove her makeup.

The smile didn’t leave her face as she dreamt about a single black rose and a promise.

268 WORDS