No Need to Say Goodbye
Inspired by a song on the Chronicles of Narnia Soundtrack, I wanted to write this immediately for a beautiful couple.
You'll come back, when it's over
No need to say goodbye.
He kissed her softly on the forehead in the middle of the park as the leaves swirled gently by in the gentle breeze the autumn. She rested her forehead against his chin, content to be standing there with his arms wrapped around her.
"I'll come back for you." He had said as she let out a soft sigh. And finally, she nodded and looked at him, her eyes full with unshed tears. He kissed her again and walked away.
There were no goodbyes, because there was no need to say one.
He came back as he had promised after capturing the last title- the US Open. Many had attributed his success to sheer brilliance and raw talent, but he knew better.
He came back, unannounced, heading straight to her house but found the place empty. He frowned and wondered where she could be, and then thought immediately of the park.
It was autumn yet again and the brown-orange leaves of the trees made the park seem like a fantasy-land. He spied her in the distance, taking a stroll and smiled.
She gasped when he had embraced her from behind. She turned around and looked into his eyes, baring into his soul.
Words were unnecessary, because they both knew he was back, for good.
They married in the next autumn, that season being their favourite. Nobody actually believed that he would have settled down so early at the age of 23, but everybody agreed that the both of them were meant for each other, a truth known since they were in high school.
Soon, the joy of having a child became known to the couple and congratulations came pouring in. She smiled quietly, as she always had while he fussed over her. When he left for work every day, he would kiss her on the forehead softly and leave.
She would look at his retreating figure and smile before closing the door and bustling about her chores.
They never did say goodbye, because they knew they would be drawn back to each other.
Her friends Anna and Tomoka decided to stop by for a visit, as they did every day since her preganancy upon request of her husband's. It was not really a request, more of a demand, but they were more than happy to see their dear friend of theirs and share in her little growing bundle of joy.
They sensed something amiss when she did not answer the door. Worried, they used the key they had been given and found her sprawled on the floor. The flurry of frantic calls and finally, the one to the husband with an outburst of "She's on the floor!" which was cut short by the wail of the ambulance sirens.
"We're sorry." Was the only thing the doctors could offer. There were tears in the emergency operating room and all around when the baby delivered breathed its last, moments after his mother had done so.
He sat alone in the hallway, his friends a distance away as they let him grieve privately. It was a complicated birth, and he had lost the two people he loved most in the world. His tears finally started to fall, and finally, his friends stepped forward to hold him as he cried for the woman he loved with all his heart, and the child he almost had.
They shoveled the last of the dirt onto the coffin. The cold autumn wind blew, leaves swirling, tousseling his hair.
He placed a lone stalk of white rose on the fresh dirt and the group bowed together to pay their final respects. He did not speak for a long time, kneeling in front of the tombstone. His friends finally told him it was getting cold and it would not be advisable to catch a chill and slowly led him out of the cemetery.
It seemed his wife had knew that the pregnancy had its complications but never told him because she was determined to keep the child. This knowledge came in the form of a letter which his wife's grandmother had delivered to him personally.
The old woman never knew why her granddaughter had asked her to safekeep a letter for her husband, only agreeing to do so out of love for the beloved granddaughter. Perhaps she knew why, only now.
He read the letter, and re-read it again. And re-read it again. He read until every word bore into his mind and every feeling she had put into writing it imprinted on his soul. He lay down on the sofa, in the middle of the living room, in the middle of the cold empty house which he could no longer bear to call home.
His friends decided to pay him a visit and found the house darkened, with no sign of life. Afraid of the inevitable, they forced the door open and found him sprawled on the floor of the living room, in a pool of blood.
"Oh, Ryoma…" they whispered as they tried to control their tears. One of his friends found a letter that was lying in the open palm of his hand and took it gingerly.
Dearest Ryoma,
Ever since I met you and fell in love with you, you're the only man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I knew I wanted to bear your children, simply because I loved you.
The doctor told me this birth would be a complicated one and my body might not be able to take it. He advised a termination, but I certainly would not allow that.
Ryoma, if I do have to leave this world trying to bring this child of ours into this world, I want you to know I loved you, love you and always will love you. And I know that you'll come back to me when your life on earth is over, in heaven.
There's no need to say goodbye Ryoma, but to say I love you.
Sakuno
And at the bottom of the letter, scrawled in his handwriting his friends were so familiar with, was "Forgive me, but it was time to go back to her."
Reviews are appreciated. The lyrics on the top are from the song, The Call by Regina Spektor.