Sweet Reminiscence

One Shot

It was a beautiful spring day when a 67-year old man with a bouquet of flowers in his hand was walking towards his wife. He had never been this excited to be with her. "Hi, Honey! I'm sorry if it took so long for me to be here. By the way, happy 40th anniversary! Wow! 40 years! Who would have thought that we would make it? Remember what happened back then?"

***

30 years ago...

Henry and Caroline were living in a small town with their two children, Daryl who was ten years old and Sophie who was seven. Henry was working as a personal driver of a prominent family in their town, while Caroline was working in an office. Henry travelled most of the time with his boss and was usually out for a couple of days.

It was around 7 pm when Henry arrived from an out-of-town trip. His children were so excited to see him, so they ran toward him and greeted him with hugs and kisses.

"Alright. Alright, that's enough. Daddy had a busy day," Henry said with a tired voice, "Where's your Mom?"

"She's in your room, Dad," answered Sophie.

"Oh! Hi, Honey!" Caroline greeted her husband as she walked down the stairs from their room. "How was your day?"

"The usual. Except that boss sent me home this early," he replied, "Shall we have our dinner now? I'm starving."

"Oh! I was actually about to prepare for our dinner. You know, I just arrived from work because we had our meeting—"

"Wait! You mean we don't have anything to eat yet?" Henry interrupted.

"I told you I just arrived and—"

" Common! That's what I was talking about! I told you to quit your job and just focus on being a wife and mother. I'm the husband and I am the one who is responsible for earning money for us to survive!"

"Yes, I know. But, Honey, your salary is not enough anymore for our expenses. The children are growing and their needs are getting expensive. And if I won't work, we might be kicked out of this apartment," Caroline explained.

"Just because you graduated in college and I was not able to finish high school, you think you know everything?!You think you're that smart?! You think you can make decisions in this house?!" Henry said angrily.

"No, of course not, Henry. I'm doing this for us! For our family! Do we really need to fight for this again?"

"Yes! We will be fighting for a million times until you quit your job! I know I can do it! I can work even harder. Just stay at home!"

"No! I'm not quitting my job. We'll have a better future if both of us will work."

"Caroline, the kids need their mother and I need a wife who can be trusted in taking care of everything while I'm away."

"So you think the kids only need me? Henry, they need you too! Daryl is growing and he needs your guidance as his father. How will he become a better person if his father is always away?"

"Ah! I get you now! You don't want to quit your job because you want to be responsible in working and you want me to stay with the kids and do the tasks that you're supposed to do? Is that what you want? Huh?"

"That's not what I mean!" Caroline tried to explain.

"Yes, it is! You know what? I'm sick of this! You want to take all the responsibilities? IT'S ALL YOURS NOW! I'M LEAVING!" Henry said at the top of his voice.

"No, Daddy! Please, stay." Little Sophie cried as she pulled her father's shirt just to let him stay.

"Dad! We need you here!" added Daryl with his shaking voice.

"Henry, please! This is not the solution. Don't leave us!" Caroline pleaded with her knees on the floor.

But Henry turned his back as if he never heard a thing. He took his car keys and drove away.

The next morning, Henry got  up in his car. Feeling half awake, he slowly took his phone and was surprised with what he saw.

"What?! 117 messages and 98 missed calls? She might be very desperate to win me back."

But, the message was more disturbing than what he expected.

"Wait? Oh, no!... NO!"

After he read the first message, he turned on his car and drove as fast as he could until he arrived in a hospital. He tried to hold back his tears as he was running around, looking for a familiar face, until he felt someone hugging him from the back.

"Dad?" his weary son said as he was wiping his tears.

"Daryl? What happened? Where are they?" he worriedly asked.

"She followed you, Dad. She run in the street and she never noticed that there was a car driving so fast. It hit her. She's critical, Dad. She's there," Daryl answered pointing to the second room in the alley.

Henry slowly opened the door of that small white room. He began to grieve as he saw her little face, full of wounds and bruises. He ran towards her and hugged her weak body.

"Sophie?" he gently said. The little one slowly opened her eyes and showed a sweet smile to her father.

"Dad?" She said weakly.

"Ssh. Don't talk, dear. Daddy's here."

"I'm glad that you came, Daddy. I want to show you something," she said pointing to the window on her right side.

Henry stood up and looked at the window. He was astonished with what he saw outside. It was a hospital garden filled with pink daisies.

"Dad, do you remember what day is it today?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, dear. It's May 21," he answered.

"It's your anniversary, right? I remember that you used to give Mommy pink daisies every 21st day of May," said little Sophie with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"I remember that very well, dear."

"Dad? Please don't leave Mommy. Please continue to give her her favorite flower during your anniversary," she pleaded with her almost whispering voice.

"Oh, my daughter. I'm sorry if mommy and I had to fight. I'm sorry if I left and you are suffering because of me. I'm very sorry, dear." Henry regretfully said.

"I forgive you, Daddy. Just promise me that you will always love Mommy and will never leave her again."

"I promise, Sophie."

Sophie showed her sweetest smile to her dad. She slowly closed her eyes and took her final breath.

***

Tears rolled down Henry's face as he reminisced those moments.
"It's been a very long time, yet, I can't help, but cry every time I remember that. Sophie changed us and because of her, I loved you even more."
Henry wiped away his tears and began to smile.

"By the way, here are the pink daisies. I'm glad that I didn't break my promise to Sophie 40 years ago... even if you are with her right now. I don't feel lonely even if you are gone, because I know, I will be there real soon. Yes, I will be."

Henry slowly lay down beside his wife's grave. And as the wind gently blew the petals of the daisies, so did his soul wither away.

End.