Moments in Monologue

// FORGOTTEN //

"I'm just so tired. My body has been aching for what seems like eternity and I can barely lift my head from my pillow. I'm writing this letter to you, my darling Isabelle, with the last of my strength. My hands are shaking so much that I'm scared you won't be able to read this, if it ever reaches you. If you're even alive to be reached. I know I've done wrong by you, and I haven't been the best father, but I want to set things straight. If I could go back in time and change what happened, if I could save her, I would, no matter the cost. You girls were my everything and I know I'll never see you again, but I need you to know that. I love you Issy. With love..."

The old man took his final breath and held it, refusing to let it go until his task was complete.

"... Father."

His eyes slid shut and the pen slipped from his grasp, coming to rest on the floor beside his bed. And that is where it remained until the maid came in an hour later. With a sigh she picked up the pen and pried the letter from his cold hand before leaving the room, going to tell the others that the old man's time had come at last. The letter was posted and the funeral passed, and soon everyone had forgotten all about him, a man who died alone in a house built for three.

Weeks later, when the letter reached its recipient, it was given barely more than a glance before being thrown into the fire. Then no one remembered the old man at all.