Authors note: Hello everyone. I had uploaded some new chapters but I just took them both down because I wasn't happy with how the story was progressing. The chapter you are about to read (4) is more or less the same as it was, just with the ending altered slightly. My apologies for any confusion this might have caused.
Happy reading!
Say not in grief that she is no more,
But say in thankfulness that she was.
Despite the many long years during which the old Castle had sat, seemingly empty and abandoned, for one reason or another…. the newspaper was still delivered to the gates just outside of the castle every other morning.
For years, Edward had made it a coveted ritual to take these papers and cut parts of them out as he saw fit. Pictures that he liked, pictures that amused him.
Somehow, they made him feel less alone.
He shuffled curiously towards the gates one clear morning, finding that a newspaper roll had been delivered to the gates once again. Though Edward did not know how they kept appearing, he was very thankful for them.
He had mastered the art of balancing the rolled newspaper on top of his wrists. In this way, he was able to carry them back inside and up the steps to his place in the attic.
Snipping off the rubber band which held the roll in place, Edward managed to expertly roll out the paper onto the floor. Crouching down in front of it, his knees tucked into his chest, Edward's eyes began to scan the paper for any pictures of interest or any curiosity which he could add to his collage below the fireplace.
There wasn't much today, however. The usual Avon ads and stock lists. Edward was slightly disappointed, but not discouraged.
He continued to carefully flip the pages as best he could, reading each one carefully. At last, he landed on the obituary pages.
And it was there, on the top right of the page where he saw her name.
KIMBERLY ANNE BOGGS
DEVOTED WIFE AND GRANDMOTHER, PASSED AWAY PEACEFULLY IN HER SLEEP AT 85.
Edward froze, becoming as still and lifeless as the machines in the chamber below.
As though against his will, his eyes suddenly cast upwards, looking upon the exact spot in the attic room where she had kissed him.
To Edward, it had not felt so long ago when they had said goodbye to one another, for the first and last time.
But now she was gone.
Kim was gone.
His heart felt very heavy. It was an unbearable weight which pulled Edward down to his knees onto the dusty floor. The thin and tattered leather body sank with despair, like a stone plummeting to the bottom of the ocean. Though Edward had never been taught how to cry (and had indeed begun to believe he was not capable of it) he found that large drops of water were now falling from his dark eyes at a rate he couldn't control.
Edward cried for a very long time until it no longer served him to do so.
Though he did not know what this feeling was, he knew that he no longer wanted it.