Note: Lyrics are © Gordon Lightfoot. I own neither them nor Red Eye.

Turning back the pages to the times I love best
I wonder if she'll ever do the same
Now the thing that I call living is just being satisfied
With knowing I got no one left to blame

The house where she used to live had been torn down a long time ago.

That neighborhood had been ravaged by all manner of storms. Wind, rain, a hurricane…damn near flooded the whole place. Eventually they tore down the strip of houses, planning to build something.

It didn't even get to be a parking lot. The changing climate had made the swamps creep up on that part of the city. Now, it was a foggy, misty half-swamp.

The ground was soft and uneven as the old man walked slowly away from his car and into the marshy area. A heavy sorrow, weighing on him more than the damp fog, ate into his heart like a cancerous tumor. It had been growing since the day she'd died.

The young woman followed him out. "Dad, we can't stay here." she took his arm, shook his sleeve lightly but he gave no notice. "Dad, please. We'll get in trouble."

He looked at his feet. They were sinking into the mud, and he stepped forward with his right leg. The water was coming up past his ankles by now.

"Dad, please…" the young woman's eyes were filled with anguish. "We can't…"

"I miss her." he said softly, almost a whisper. His throat hurt.

"I miss her too, but she's gone now. She's not here."

"No, she's here. I can feel her." the old man nodded. "She's just beyond this mist…" he began to walk forwards again.

"Dad…" the young woman protested one last time. Then she stepped back and hung her head. She couldn't reason with him; she never could.

He turned one last time, gave her a roguish grin and shoved his hands in his pockets. This is how he must have looked, the young woman mused with a sad smile and blurring eyes, when he first met my mother.

"We'll talk again." he winked, then turned, and walked into the swamp.

The young woman watched his back vanish into the mists, hugging her sides lightly. She stood there for what seemed like hours, and then she turned, and walked back to the car.

Carefree highway, got to see you my old flame
Carefree highway, you seen better days
The morning after blues from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away, slip away on you.

End.