prelude

Her gaze settles on a single rose. The bud was a deep red color, made of silk. The stem, a wire dipped in plastic fashioned with a few leaves on either side of the stalk. She wonders if anyone had noticed when she placed it in with the rest of the arrangement. A small white corner of an envelope peeks out from under the bud of the flower. The envelope held a small card, worn by age and yellowed by the sun. On the card, an inscription written in dark blue ink read, “till the last rose dies, I will love you forever.” “This must be a horrible dream. He said forever...” she argued with herself. A single tear falls from her face. Her eyes were already red and puffy from the events from the last week. Unable to compile her thoughts as how she was able to function and make all the final preparations for today. Her eyes drift from shadow to shadow. Each figure paying their respects and condolences. A hand on her shoulder interrupts her mind falling into the bleak darkness. She turns to look at who disturbed her quiet fall from the reqluty of this world. Dressed in an embellished overlay black and blue pin stripped jumpsuit, stood a tall blonde woman. Her eyes brown with golden flakes of the summer sun. Her golden-brown hair tied up in a bun, a few loose curls teased the corner of her eyes as the wind softly blew across her face. They struggle to speak, each one knowing what the other is thinking, they embrace. The silence between them is deafening. The world around them seems to fall away in darkness. She begins to open her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing comes out. They locked eyes; tears begin to well up in their eyes. She pulls the crocheted handkerchief that her mother had made for her on her wedding day. She softly pats her tears away to look back at her lifelong friend, who returns the same sad tears and unspoken anguish. They had joked so many times in the past about how alike they were despite not being biologically related. They had met through a Christmas party for their husbands' work and have been unseperable every since. At one point, their husbands jokenly mentioned they should adopt one another as sisters. She looks back up at her friend and nods her head, silently thanking her for being there when she needed her the most. Their hands slowly fall away as they part ways. She watches other figures cross the grass in front of her. She slowly falls back into her memories. The darkness envelopes her again. The whole day seemed to be a blur. She looks around to see where she was now. She had been moved outside, where everyone was gathering in a large crowd. She strains to recall when she was moved from the church hall to the grassy spot she was poking with the heels of her black stilettos. It was a cold and windy day. The sun was barely peeking through the heavy gray clouds. “Fitting it should be like this. It’s how I feel...” she thought. “Ahna…” someone had spoken her name, but it had only fallen on deaf ears. Her gaze falls on the metal casket in front of her. At first glance, it's black, but if you shifted your position just slightly, there was a blue hue to the finish. The silver handles caught a ray of sun just enough to cause it to bounce into her eyes. She smiled for a moment. Closing her eyes and letting the warmth of the sun in. Suddenly, there was a squeeze on her hand. She looked up from the casket that held the love of her life and turned to her son. they both held their breath and turned back to the casket. The funeral director placed a brass handle into the edge of the platform that held the casket. He looked up to her for the signal node that she was ready to say her last goodbye. She closed her eyes and nodded reluctantly to the man. As the casket was slowly lowered into the cold cement box in the ground below, all of her emotions, dreams, and soul were shattered. Her final kiss was sealed in a letterand tucked into his shirt pocket next to his heart. She vowed that she’d would change things. She wasn’t sure how, but this isn’t how their story ended. Not like this, not alone in this world. She closed her eyes and drifted to a moment years ago. She smiled as the sun peeked out from behind a cloud and placed a gentle ray of warmth on her face. Had it really been 26 years?