The old man hobbles along the path, clutching his guitar and a bouquet of red roses. He is coming to visit her grave again.
The flowers are for her favorite color and the music is for her love of dancing. Once, he showed me a photo of her holding their grandchild, and her wrinkled face glowed with joy. I know he doesn’t see her as old though—he sees a dancing girl in a red dress skipping through the mists of time.
He places the flowers on her stone and begins to play “Spanish Harlem.”
Now, I see her too.
~*~
Written for Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge 100.
Written for Sadje’s What Do You See 64.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
We tend to remember those we love as a vision of who they were at their best and in their prime. I like how you seamlessly integrated the two photo prompts.
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Thank you 🙂
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Oh Paula what a moving story! Thanks for including WDYS image in your story.
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My pleasure 💖
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🌺🌹
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So beautiful 🥰
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Thank you 🥰
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Ah, Miz P, you’re always good. But every now and again you touch raw places that need remembered.
Her favorite was yellow roses. After 40 years I brought her a dozen of the finest I could find and sat there talking with her on a shimmering hot summer afternoon. After all that time, I was pretty sure there was nothing to say, but I was wrong. I told her a lot and said a lot that I should have said before. Cried a little. Silly, yeah? Sundown-long shadows stretching across the mowed grass finally reminded me how late it was.
Late measured in decades.
I rearranged the already perfectly arranged flowers in the vase a bit and got down on my knees and brushed imaginary dust off the polished marble and finally told her at long last what I’d really come to say: “Goodbye.”
I kissed my fingertips and pressed them into the carved letters for a moment then I stood up and sealed her back into that hidden, deep place where one keeps that sort of thing and went back to my life.
I liked your story — hope that was clear.
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Beautiful ❤️
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I love that song Paula.
I’m going to pick that rose
And watch her as she grows in my garden
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It’s so beautiful 🎶
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So sweet! Love this! 😍
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