Sunset on the Lake of Placid Dreams
I'll never forget the day Helen died. Spring had arrived early that year, and green was just beginning to creep back into the dull and lifeless winter landscape. While we didn't get much snow in the South, the drop in temperature was enough to send the local fauna packing.
"Mr. Finch?" inquired a subdued voice from the doorway to our house. Calpurnia had come bearing a kettle of hot bittersweet tea and some mince cakes. His favourite.
"Ah, thank you, Cal. You don't know how much we appreciate your help around the house." He smiled warmly. Especially in these difficult time, he added mentally.
His wife, his beautiful, sweet wife Helen had contracted a rare heart disease. Much to his dismay, there was no known cure for the fatal condition, and the doctor had informed him that she had only months, if not weeks, to live. He'd been crushed by the news, and had no other choice but to watch calmly as his wife slowly faded away.
"Mr. Finch, I'm sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but the doctor has informed me that the Missus is in her last moments. I'm sorry…" she added somewhat awkwardly.
He sat there on his whitewashed bench, on the porch of the beautiful house he had bought for his wife and two precious children, and simply nodded.
"I knew it was about time," he muttered silently, his eyes starting to glaze over. "This is the day of reckoning."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Finch?" inquired Calpurnia, puzzlement clear on her face.
"No, it's OK, Cal, I was just talking to myself. Please, if you would, take me to my wife."
Calpurnia nodded, and led the way through the unusually dark house to a small bedroom on the top floor. Inside, he spied the doctor standing with his head low in a corner, but paid him no heed.
"Atticus," whispered shakily the figure lying dejectedly in a big, sturdy oak-framed bed.
"My dear, sweet Helen," he said, his voice almost cracking with all the emotions welling up inside of him. "I'm here for you."
"Atticus…" she said, her voice trailing off. "My days on God's green Earth are just about ended, dearest." She held out her fragile white hand, and Atticus took it in his own, and handled it as if it was the finest, most precious porcelain.
"Don't talk like that, Helen. You know you've lasted already weeks longer that that fool of a doctor had predicted! There is still a chance that maybe you can beat it…" He spoke with passion, but even he could feel the words held nothing more than a false comfort.
"Atticus, you know that's not true. I can feel it in my very soul that God has fulfilled his purpose for me," she said, and pointed above her head at the simply carved wooden cross.
Such faith,he thought to himself, as a wrack of sobbing attempted to take over his body.
"Be strong, my love. This isn't the end. We'll see each other again in Heaven…" she said with a weak smile. "And I'll always be there in your dreams."
"Helen…" he began, but his voice was lost as he found comfort in the silence they shared together.
"I can hear Him calling me Atticus. The angels… the angels are coming for me…" she said, and Atticus looked at her in concern, mixed with fear.
Is this it?, he thought to himself.
Suddenly, the timid doctor appeared at his side, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"She's delirious. I'm afraid she's going to pass soon. You should say your goodbye while you have the chance." With those words, the doctor silently excused himself from the room, to leave the two in privacy.
"Atticus, they're coming… they're coming… for me…" Helen continued, when suddenly a violent shudder took over her fragile body.
He could do nothing but sit in silence, his hand tightly gripping hers, as she experienced her last breath.
"I love you, Helen. I always will…" he said, a single tear escaping from his eye.
"The angels, Atticus… how beautiful…" she stated finally, before her last breath escaped her. She was gone.
He stood for a moment, motionless, letting the emotions run through him. With one last longing look at her beautiful face, he lightly kissed her forehead. Before he left the room, he remembered her last words to him before she lost her grip on reality, and he knew they would stay with him for the rest of his life:
"I'll always be there in your dreams…"
FIN