I’ll Come Back
The blossoms remind me of him. Vibrant... Resilient... Red...
She stood alone in the barren field. The tall, brown grass around her was cracked and frozen by winter’s kiss. Dainty, white flakes dotted the sky as she waited; the bite in the air turning her nose and fingers red. She held a few stocks of a flower in her hand. Its red blooms were shut tight from the cold and as large as a penny. Their red matched her plaid jacket; the one with the cozy, black interior. Locks of short black hair framed her Asian face. With slender fingers, she caressed the frozen blooms.
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She is me… I am her… I’m waiting. Waiting for one who will never come. Here in this barren place; I wait. His final words still ringing in my ears, “I’ll come back for you.†But in both our hearts, I knew he never could. Yet, still I wait. Ever the hopeful one. Though hope itself has limits.
The blossoms remind me of him. Vibrant. Resilient. Red. Red with the blood that now separates us. Red for the color of my heart. Red stained memories. We had so much to look forward to. So much to achieve. Now those dreams are but dust in the wind. Caught at the feet of mercy and longing to be brought back to life. Restored and made real. I wish they could…
The call took him. The call to war. The call to honor. But the call left me behind. Alone. I never knew how alone I would actually feel. The others claimed to understand. To know. That’s why I’m alone in my waiting. They understand. They’ve learned to accept. But I will never learn. I will never accept. I will never claim to understand. I will never give up hope.
Yet hope draws to an end… Days pass… Weeks pass… Months pass… Years pass… No news and I’m still alone. Alone to live this weary life. Alone to hope, beyond all hope, that he will return to me. The man I know I love. The man I know I will marry. The man who makes my heart beat. The man who I would live for.
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A trail of water followed a tear down her face, the drop itself falling to the ground below. In her heart, she knew this would be the last day. If he did not return, she would never come back. She could hardly bear the thought of leaving him, though all that was left was a memory. The crunch of grass reached her ears. Her brown eyes turned up. The flowers fell from her hands. The cold was forgotten.
Strong hands met her own and a laugh rippled from inside of her chest. He lifted her from the ground and swung her in a circle. They kissed with a passion reserved only for lovers long torn apart. He set her down and they faced each other for the first time in years. Their eyes danced with an overflowing joy. She smiled and threw her arms around him.
“You came back!†she cried.
“I said I would.â€
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