1. Mourning

The sun stops shining this morn. It comes up same as always, but it’s as cheerless to me as that Dawnless Day. I wake early and know somewhat’s amiss. There’s a cold next to me as I’ve naught felt before. She’s not even been sick. I’d no warning at all and I stare at her for an hour afore I can let myself believe it. I take her hand and hold it until Frodo-lad comes to fetch us for breakfast. 

Long after they take her away, her side of the bed remains cold. Never again will her laughter ring through the smial, or her smile greet me in the morning. Never again will I feel her softness aside me, or her kisses on my face. Her children will never have the joy of her advice again. They’ll have to rely on their memories now, as will I. But my memories have been fading of late, and I never want to forget her.

I’m sitting on the edge of the bed, which I’ve yet to leave though it’s now past noon. I stare at the portrait of us just after our wedding. A young Rose beams down at me in her wedding dress. Her hair is done up and her eyes shine with mirth, beautiful as a flower in full bloom.

Our first kiss as husband and wife, our first night spent together, our firstborn child, our first year of many more to come, all spent under this roof. Now I’m to spend my first night alone.

I lay back, hug her pillow, breathe in her scent that lingers there still. I close my eyes as the first tear falls. My Rose has left me, gone to where I can’t yet follow. I’ve been torn in two all over again.

GF 7/21/2012

To be continued...