Disclaimer: I do not own any Monk characters. Trudy walked alone across the empty parking. The clicking of her heels on the cement floor was the only sound she heard. She suddenly had the feeling she was being watched She looked around but saw nothing. Maybe all these years of being married to Adrian was beginning to rub off on her. Trudy finally reached her car .The sooner she left here the safer she would feel. She climbed inside and put the bag with Ambrose's cough medicine in the seat beside her. The paranoid feeling crept back. She dismissed it , buckled her seatbelt and turned the key. The explosion was deafining and seemed to go on forever. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trudy was five years old. She was playing in the back yard of her house. The sun was shining making her feel warm all over. And the smell of her mom's flower garden filled the yard. She was playing tag with her dog , Ginger. First she would chase the dog across the yard and try to catch her. The she would run back across the yard and Ginger would chase her as she ran. Suddenly she tripped and fell into the grass. It tickled her all over. Ginger jumped on her began licking her face She burst into giggles. Her mom stepped out of the back door and began calling her, "Trudy Anne! Come on time for lunch. She stood up and ran to her mother's arms with Ginger running along behind her. She felt safe and loved. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Trudy was now fourteen She walked into the kitchen holding a large brown envelope. The Morning sun was shining through the window. She sat down at the kitchen table and beside her mom and opened her mail. "Mom !" yelled "Ashton accepted me! They offered me a full scholarship including room and board. Her mother put down her cup of tea, "Are you sure this is what you want? San Francisco is so far away. There are plenty of good schools right here in Los Angeles you could go to". Her daughter took her hand and replied "Ashton has the best creative writing program in this part of the country. And they wanted me. Her mother stood up and hugged her. "I'm so proud of you baby. I'm going to miss you so much I don't know if I can stand it." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trudy is now 27 years old. Dressed in a long white gown made just for her she walks down the church aisle on her father's arm The sun is shining through the stained glass window making red and green shadows dance against the wall Her father squeezes her arm and she looks in his face. He is smiling but there is a small tear in his eye. She looks at the man waiting at the front of the church for her.Adrian, her soul mate. So smart , so sweet. She stands beside him and they join hands. She wishes that they will be this happy forever. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Trudy opens her eyes. Why is she laying on the pavement? She can't move. She can barely breathe. A man in a uniform is kneeling beside her. He looks frightend. "The ambulance is on it's way" He whispers. "Everything is going to be fine." She knows he is lying. Strange, she thought that dying would hurt, yet she feels numb. She thinks of Adrian, What will he do without her? She recalls something she once learned in church, that a thousand years in heaven is but an instant on earth. She remembers when they they used to take walks, separating only an instant and the rejoining hands.. She looks at the officer and breathes,"Tell Adrian "Bread and butter." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------She can see Adrian and the captain in a hospital waiting room. She seems to be floating above them. A bright light is shining from the ceiling.She looks toward it and then looks down one last time. A doctor is now in the room talking to Adrian. He scrams and collapses into Leland's arms. She wants to go to him but is compelled to go into the light instead. It becomes closer and brighter until it engulfs her. Then she and it become one.