A Promise Kept

The old man reached over onto the passenger seat and picked up the container. Opening the car door he slowly stood up out of the drivers seat and sat the container on top of the car. Looking up at the hill he felt a sudden rush of fear.

I can't make it, he thought. I'm just too old. I've waited too long.

The brush was much more overgrown than the last time John had been here. In fact the whole landscape looked larger and more ominous then he remembered. "C'mon Mary" the old man said as he picked up the container and shuffled towards the hill. "I won't let you down". As he reached the opening of what was once a fairly well maintained nature trail he remembered walking hand in hand here with the first and only woman he had ever loved. They were so young, so full of energy. They had almost run through the trail and up the hill back then. John knew it would take him much longer this time, and be much more dangerous. "I have to do this" he said to himself. "I promised. No matter how long it takes me, I have to get to our special spot". Already feeling the arthritis in his knees John stepped out of the open field and onto the overgrown trail. He held the container with both hands hugging it in his arms as if protecting it from an unseen enemy. As he walked through the small stretch of woods on the near side of the hill thorns scraped against his legs and scratched his skin. John felt holly leaves poking at his arms and mosquito's stinging his flesh but he held on tight to the container. To help forget the pain he remembered his wife,Mary. How beautiful she was when they used to come here,and how happy. They had been barely out of high school and madly in love. He could remember carrying her in his arms up this trail. Now he barely had the strength to carry her ashes.

By the time John reached the first small clearing he was near exhaustion. John was afraid that if he sat down he would never get up again but he had no choice,he had to rest. He carefully sat the container on the ground then sat himself on the stump of a tree long ago put out of its misery by a mans axe.

"I'm sorry Mary. I have to rest. But don't you worry my love, I am going to get there. I'm going to keep my promise. Just have to rest a little while." The stump he sat on had been there so long that he and Mary had once sat on it and eaten lunch on the way to their special spot.

After resting twenty minutes John decided it was time to get moving. He knew if he sat too long his joints would get stiff and that this would be the end of his trip. He slowly rose to his feet, hearing his knees creak and his back make tiny cracking noises like the sound floorboards make walking around the house late at night. John took a quick look around to get his bearings and then continued up the hill. The first few steps were torturous since his joints had stiffened while he sat. After a while though he began getting loose again and the pain subsided a little. Whenever the pain grew too great he retreated into his own thoughts. He immersed himself in memories of his life with Mary, his wife, his love, his whole reason for being. He thought of he and Mary as young people walking the boards, going to the arcade, the beach, the hot dog stands. He remembered the summers spent lying in the sun next to each other. He sipping a coke, Mary always an iced tea. He thought of Mary's favorite flower, the poppy, and how her entire face would light up every time he brought her some. John had once tried to grow them in the flower bed but they never took hold. He had planted the seeds, watered them and weeded the garden to make sure the flowers weren't in danger of having their nutrients and water stolen. John had done everything he thought a man should do to make the poppies grow but they never did. He remembered Mary saying to him, "John, I could just lay down in a field of poppies. I could lay down and spend eternity there. Right in a field of poppies. I would feel the sun on my face and the wind in my hair and be surrounded by the most beautiful flower on earth." John would snicker and tell her it was silly but he never forgot how passionate she was when she spoke of it.