Twice Upon a Snow-Covered Hill- A Short Story

Twice Upon a Snow-Covered Hill

Christine hurriedly walked through the graveyard which was all too familiar. The graveyard where her father was buried. The graveyard she visited in desperate time of need all those many years ago.

Christine was much older now, about the age of 62. Her only son Gustave was now married with children.

Her small footsteps crushed the hard snow beneath her feet. She stopped at the top of a small hill and peered over the peaceful cemetery, the pale moonlight giving the tombstones a beautiful glint. She searched for a few moments when she finally found it.

The tomb of Erik Destler.

She tried her hardest not to slip on her old legs as she walked down the hill and ran to the tomb of her one love.

With tears in her eyes she kneeled down in front of it.

A flood of memories filled her mind. At his death bed, Erik's only request was for his angel of music to sing for him one last time. She sang the one song he loved the most. The aria from Hannibal from so long ago that she somehow still remembered. The aria that paved her road to stardom.

She softly sang to him as he slowly stopped breathing. As she stared at his limp body tears welled in her eyes, blocking her vision of his pale face. Erik had never told her that his facial deformity was slowly killing him.

As Christine kneeled in front of his grave she glanced at the single red rose in her hand. She then remembered the song she had sung at her father's grave so many years ago.

She took a shaky breath and began singing.

"You were once my one companion,
You were all that mattered.
You were once a friend, and father,
And my world, was shattered.

Wishing you were somehow here again. Wishing you were somehow here.
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed,
Somehow you would be here.
Wishing I could hear your voice again,
Knowing that I never would.
Dreaming of you wont help me to do,
All that you dreamed I could."

Christine sang on until she reached the one part that still broke her.

"Too many years, fighting back tears.
Why can't the past just die?"

The tears welled in Christine's eyes came streaming down her cheeks. She took a few shaky breaths and continued until she reached the end.

"Help me say goodbye,
Help me say goodbye."

Once her song was finished, she stared down at the single red rose that remained in her hand. She stood up, pat the snow off her blue dress, and placed the rose at the head of the gravestone. She wiped the tears away from her cheeks. She placed the hood of her red and blue cloak at the top of her head.

"Goodbye, my angel of music." she said, smiling sadly. She turned to walk away, up the hill and down the trail she had once come.

Once she had reached the gate to the cemetery, she stopped in her tracks and heard a familiar voice sing her name.

"Christine..."

She glanced up at the sky and smiled. She stared up for a few moments at the clear blue sky. She could practically feel Erik smiling down on her, watching over her. She stared ahead, gathered full mentality, and walked home.