Message to Love on a Tombstone
Flash Fiction by C.J. Heck
I watched in guilty silence, like an uninvited voyeur, as the elderly woman leaned down and tucked a small folded paper into a crack on the headstone.
As our eyes met, I saw a face wearing misery and I wondered whose headstone it was that made her cry. Was it a husband, a child, or a parent long gone and she wished them back for an hour, or maybe a hug?
Seeing her was a stark reminder that “Time waits for no one”. The wheels of time turn days and months to years. Then one day you realize, a lifetime passed and you still miss what you had and you've exhausted your memories.
I walk among the gravestones of lives that used to be, so missed by those left behind. The cold granite at my feet belies the warmth left in my heart and death, like fire, singes my soul.
Like a bucket with a hole, life trickles out, but a heart stays full and never empties. The old woman slowly walked away, her shoulders rounded in grief. Not even true love can live forever. Death can call us at any time.
When she left, I went over to the headstone. The note would be personal, but I had to read the words that made her cry.
“I will always love you. I trust I’ll be joining you soon. I hope you like the flowers."
… and I cried, too.
Oh! 🥲so sad!