FINAL FAREWELL
She cradled his ruin of a face to her breast as he wept, wept for the hideous nature of his life, for his sins of the body as well as those of the spirit, and for the abject misery of his eternal solitude. He wept for all that had been his existence.
She held him, in silence, until his tears subsided and his shuddered breathing eased. Then, ever so softly, she began to sing.
Her voice was clear and pure, a soothing caress to his tortured soul. There were no words to her song, only the music of her heart, and it was within these notes that he found his redemption. He saw things of beauty and wonder that he had created throughout the world, and remembered forgotten acts of kindness that he had bestowed. He saw the comfort taken from his touch by a disease-ravaged child who lay dying in his arms.
He was at peace for the first time in his life. He was loved.
Her song ended on a low, sweet note, and for a moment all was still in the chamber. Even the candle's flame did not waver as she gently turned his face to hers. A lifetime had been lived this night; two lost souls had come together in a union which even death could not deny.
His eyes locked with hers in silent farewell. She took his final breath with a kiss and sealed it within her heart, held there until the day that he would reclaim it with a kiss of his own, one that would welcome her to him for all Eternity.
9/29/2005