One Life

A tale of life and love in London...

     I reach out to touch her cheek, tracing gently the smoothness of her skin with a crooked finger. She looks up at me through dewy eyes, chestnut and dappled with golden flecks. I lean over to press my lips to her cool forehead. Heather's cheek is pressed into the soft pillow, her face is wreathed in mahogany curls tinged with copper. She is smiling and has never looked so beautiful�

     It was that smile that had captivated me seven years ago, a smile that changed my heart forever on our wedding day and sustained it day after day from then on. I met her in the rain one spring afternoon in St James Park.
     The sun had been shining all morning, there was a light breeze and little hint of the squall that was to follow. It was lunchtime and I had take-out sandwiches and a coffee from a little Italian place on Half Moon Street. London had taken on a slightly greyer tone as the clouds blew in and it didn't take long for the rain to start to fall. I hurried across to the bandstand in St James Park and stood there, dismally staring out at the world.

     My first vision of her was a comical one. Bedecked in a black skirt and white blouse, she darted across the path and up onto the grass, where the heel of her shoe became stuck in the earth. I watched as she struggled in the rain, which had begun to fall in steady sheets, and then begin to hop, shoe in hand, towards the shelter. She was soaked to the skin. Her hair either hung in bedraggled coffee spirals at her shoulders or was plastered across her cheeks and water ran off the end of her nose. As she shook out her hands, her sandwiches, which were limp and soggy in their wet paper bag, suddenly opened and shed their contents on my shoes. Chicken mayonnaise and sweet corn.
     "Oh, my God � I'm so sorry," she said, her expression horrified.
     I just smiled.
     As the rain continued to drive across the park we stood next to each other staring silently ahead. Eventually, I caught her eye and was grateful of a small smile in return to ease the tension. I turned to offered her half my sandwich. She smiled, refusing politely and folded her arms self-consciously across her chest, her blouse was almost see-through.
     I removed my jacket. "Do you want this, you're a little� erm�. see through there," I said. Oh God! "I wasn't looking or anything�" I added quickly, feeling the colour rise in my cheeks.
     I must have looked completely at a loss, my mouth was flapping but no words would come. She laughed then and the rain had never seemed so wonderful.
     She told me her name was Heather.

     Our wedding was a simple affair, a modest church in the West Country, on a hill overlooking the sea on a hazy afternoon in late summer. Even now I just have to close my eyes and I can see her silhouetted in the white dress and the sunlight from the doorway. I'm not a religious man but if there are such things as Angels one truly appeared to me that day. I remember my breath catching in my throat and my heart pounding fiercely in my chest; how I got though my vows I'll never know. Heather remained a vision of tranquillity throughout; only at the conclusion did I notice her hands trembling.

     Tears blur my eyes as I recall the day you came home early from the office, your face was pale and drawn as you sat on the sofa and began to speak. Every word was a hammer blow. The cancer was so quick to spread, corrupting everything, shrinking you and taking your mind and washing away your memories. I truly thought that I would die as I watched it ruin you but through it all you remained strong and your smile never faded, not for a second.

     I took this photo three days before you passed; your eyes portrayed not a hint of the pain you were in and you never looked so beautiful�


............................................God saw you were getting tired,
.................................................a cure was not to be.
.............................................So he put his arms around you,
............................................and whispered, "come with me."

..........................................With tearful eyes I watched you suffer
..................................................and saw you fade away.
................................................Although I love you dearly,
................................................I could not make you stay.

...............................................So when I saw you sleeping
.................................................so peacefully from pain,
................................................I could not wish you back
.................................................to suffer that way again.

.................................................In life I miss you dearly,
.................................................in death I love you still,
............................................in my heart you hold a special
............................................place, no one else will ever fill.

.............................

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Music courtesy of Mika.

Reviews

[An Ordinary Woman]

Dang you, Howie.

You got me. I never even saw it coming. I should have known the ending ... I was sucked in so fast that I never made it to the music player at the bottom and it's prolly just as well, I would have been bawling, I'm sure of it.

that poem is stunning, a real tear jerker. the story as a whole is marvelous and yep, I can see it as a movie, too.

You should embed that music thingy at the top, Howie. lol

[Sammypookins]

Sneaky.... I don't do poetry ( you said ) however there it is, written for all to see. Veeeeerrrry nice Howser, very sweet and thoughtful, no cheeky aside, no sarcastic comments. You can still surprise an old girl. Sam x

[Carla (trying to make e..]

Howie
a great story and a great poem....
don't ever say you are not a poet..

Carla

[Maria C. Donado]

-sob- Damn you and your awesomely sad stories straight to hell and back! And that coming from me is a very good thing, Howie! -cries- This was so good! It's the second time one of your stories has made me cry! I loved it, absolutely loved it!

[Kristen R. Heyl]

You really drove the nail through the heart and made the waterworks fall from my eyes with your tale.

[Spirit <White Wolf&g..]

Pretty good. It hurt to hear that she died.

[Spiritscript]

Excellent, as always. And... you know I thrive on misery!

[dawnsue541]

Just when I think I am in a nice story, a love story you pop my head off again! Laughs! You are delightful most of the time!!!

[Lucky Me]

Howie!!! This was so cute and so well written! You did such a wonderful job. We need to put this one out there as an example to everyone on what a short love story is. This is the textbook definition of a perfect short love story. There was just enough detail, but not too much. You did a wonderful job. I was almost in tears when you were explaining how much in love he was. You really have talent for story telling.

[Narnie]

Sweet... very sweet. And a fabulous example of how diverse your writing is. I would like to see this side of you expanded but I can almost *feel* that you quickly bore of this sensitive side of yours... please don't. It's refreshing to have a man write romance and I would love to read more.

[Pict Girl]

This is the first time I have encountered the combonation of pictures, music and words. The story is touching without them, but with these elements together it takes the reader deeper into the emotion of the piece. What a wonderful tool!