Rose' s face glistened in the sunlight that made its way through the tree. Jack watched her intently, drawing every detail of her. It was mid-July and the weather was perfect. There was not a cloud in the sky or a breeze in the air. It was perfect weather for drawing. Jack had noticed how much Rose has aged since they first met; how she now has wrinkles on her forehead, her lips are now a pale pink and thin, and her hair turned from red to grey. They had aged quite a bit in the past years, both mentally and physically. Jack knows he can't do what he used to. He could no longer walk well as it hurt his hips and knees, and he could no longer move the same ways. He also could not hold the pencil correctly because of his arthritis, but he tries to tough it out for Rose. Besides, today is a special day for him. He thinks back to the first day he had laid his eyes on her. She was by a railing in her light green dress, her hair neatly pinned and waiving gently in the breeze. He thinks of how gorgeous she had once been and how lucky he was to find her. He now thinks of their wedding day. She had on a gorgeous flowing white gown in the hot month of July. On a day just like Today. He remembers thinking how lucky he was to be marrying the most amazing person in his life, his best friend, his soul mate. He thinks of when his children are born: Emily, Joseph, and he remembers the sickness; the sickness that tore his whole world apart and changed everything forever. As he finishes his last thoughts of life, he finishes the drawing of Rose. He set down his pencil on the grass and smiled at his work. "How does it look?" Rose asked getting up off of the ground. "Pretty good if I say so myself." Jack responded. Rose made her way over to see the drawing. "Wow, Mr. Dawson!" She gasped. Jack handed painting over to her and she examined it closely. "This is amazing work!" She exclaimed. "Rose, it's Jack, remember?" He said looking up from his artist chair. She looked down at him and smiled."Oh,yes, Jack." "Miss Rose!" Called Malene, Rose' s caretaker, from the back porch. Both Jack and Rose looked in her direction. "It's time for lunch!" They looked back at each other. "Well, let's get going." Jack said grabbing his cane and standing up. They both walked back to the house. "Malene, look what Mr. Dawson drew." Rose said as they walked into the house. She showed Malene the portrait. "Wow, that looks amazing Miss Rose! Why don't you go put that in your room upstairs and come join us for lunch?" She suggested. "Alright, I will be right back." Rose said walking off. "No luck today, Mr. Dawson?" Malene said grabbing the potato salad off of the counter. Jack removed his hat from his head and set it on the coat rack. "It's not going as well as I hoped, but we're getting there." He said with a sigh. "I hoped it turns out for the best." She said walking past him into the dining room. He followed her and saw that the table was already set, as it always had stopped and noticed that there were three candles as center pieces and a bouquet of bright red roses. Wow, Malene. This is great." He said surprised. "50 roses for 50 years." Malene said putting the salad down on the table. Jack felt that it was nice if her to do this for both Rose and Jack. He couldn't help but feel that he wasn't the only one to remember this special day. He sat at the table and Rose soon joined him. Malene served them their sandwiches and salad and left the room. After a while of quiet eating, Rose broke the silence. "What are the roses for?" She asked. "There are 50 roses representing 50 years." Jack answered. "And what are so great about these 50 years?" She asked curiously. Rose has always been on the outspoken type and never really mind what she said. "They represent 50 years of love and happiness. 50 years of the greatest years of my life. 50 years that I would do anything to relive again." "They represent something important, something special in your life?" "Yes." Jack smiled. They continued to eat their lunch in silence again. "What happened to her?" Rose suddenly asked. "What?"Jack asked confused. "The woman you love. Who the roses represent." "She went away for a while. She'll be back soon." "I would love to meet her." "You will. I promise."
Jack laid restlessly in his bed. He hasn't had a good sleep in the longest time. Not since he last slept with her. He slowly sat up and looked around the room. He slowly and painfully stood up and made his way across the room to his desk. He turned on the lamp and sat down. He looked at all the pictures that were on top. There were pictures that he had looked at just about a million times when he could not sleep. He looked at them one by one. There were pictures of his wedding, his trip with her to the Santa Monica pier, horseback riding, and family trips. So many memories. He thought to held back his tears as he looked through his memories that seemed to happen lifetimes ago. He set the pictures down in a nice, neat pile and opened the middle drawer. He took out his journal and examined it, running his hand over the cover. The pages were now thin and worn. He sat in his chair for a second taking it all in, and stood up. He turned off his lamp and made it to the door. He opened the door slowly, letting out a low creek. He waited to see if Malene had heard, but there was no sign. He quietly slipped into the hallway and made it to Rose' s room. He opened the door and saw her lying in her bed, wide awake. "Jack?" She asked quietly. Hearing her say his name made Jack feel as if she has never gotten sick, everything was back to normal, as if they were young again. "Yeah, it's Jack." He said walking in. He closed the door behind him and sat in the chair next to her bed. "I can't seem to fall asleep." Jack said. "Neither can I." Rose said rolling onto her side to face Jack. She looked at him with her big blue eyes. "Well, do you want me to read you a story?" He asked opening the journal he had. She nodded slowly.
Please, please give me some feed back! I am not sure if I will continue this story so if I know that out there, in this big world of ours, someone is reading it I will gladly continue writing. Please tell me if I misspelled something or something doesn't make sense. Thank you SO much for reading. I appreciate it A LOT! Much love - crystaldiamondstars