Dragoln's and KZ's Short Stories

For the rest of her life

She decided to go to her father's grave to ask his advice.

Twenty-five long years - it had been.

His warm smile and encouraging words always liked to linger in her mind. Popping up in moments of her life when she needed it.

A bad day? Closing her eyes, she would reminisce about those wonderful times with her dad. He was always there for her when she was sad, troubled and disappointed by the world around her.

Life was like fire - burning with passion and love until it was snuffed out in a single moment.

A single moment that tore down her entire world; a single moment that crashed down on her like a tsunami flooding a city.

Ever since his death, she lost the will to do anything. All places she saw, went and did... His shadow of memory was there; it tainted her entire being with shallow memories never to return; shallow memories burned and teased and broke her heart with happiness she would never find again.

Time and time again, she would soon find herself returning to the grave. Staring in bitter sorrow at that cursed cross-shaped stone, hoping that dad would somehow rise up against death. Like he always did against obstacles in his life.

Her Father was strong, compassionate, kind, determined: a wonderful kind of man - his friends said at the funeral.

"I miss you."

Speaking softly: her words were a quiet whisper: her lips a solemn line: her eyes a window to the soul.

"I miss you so so much. I don't know where to begin." Staring at her own hands, she didn't even dare look ahead.

"Ever since you... went away. Life hasn't been so good to me." As her nails dug into her hands - her lips trembled.

"Me and Derrick broke up. Yeah, You always said he wasn't the right one for me but I still insisted anyway..." Eyes glazed over as if staring at someplace distance.

"He took everything. The money. The apartment. I have nothing." Pools welled up and poured down her cheeks: she choked down a suffocating so as her voice cracked and broke.

Taking a moment, she gently wiped her tears with a small, dirty handkerchief.

Living life spiralled into a sort of dark abyss. The more she sank, deeper and deeper, the more she would never escape the feelings that haunted her.

A deep breath, inhaling, exhaling and finally gathering the strength to look at it again.

Dressed in black, she finally examined the stone - seeing it for what it was. Over the months, all sorts of nasty grime and dirt slathered the purity of the stone. Green moss grew rampant at corners as if sucking the life out of it to sustain its own.

Cory Turq

A name engraved warmly onto the stone but left to freeze in the desolate, withering cold for the rest of its time.

"What... What should I do?"

She finally broke down, like a dam overflooding; hands shot up to her face trying to calm the intense grief but to no avail.

It was silent except for the sobbing - of course. A kind of silence that wasn't comforting nor reassuring. A sort of silence that only served to remind her of the loneliness that plagued her being, her mind, her soul.

If dad was here: he would tell her to lift her head up high: he would tell her not to worry - that he would handle it for her: he would run up to her and deliver a hug to end all sadness.

The realisation of this cruel world without him only dug her deeper into her troubles, making her feel worse every second.

Nothing. There was no answer to her problems, no consolation to his death, no magic that would ever let him live again.

"That's right. I didn't expect anything anyway. You wouldn't understand." Frustration coloured her tone, and desperation dripped between the lines - leaving her mouth with an aftertaste of despair.

With this, she left the grave, head hung lower than when she came...

Never was she to return to that grave - for the rest of her entire life.

Author's Note:

Remember to check out KZ_The_Sword take on this prompt!

Enjoy your read.