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Flash Fiction Forum - February Entry 1

Prompt - Love is in the air

The Visit

So long ago. So much has changed. He lifted his eyes from the picture frame on his lap to the distant panorama of the city. The buildings looked like tombstones, all grey against a mottled sky, differentiated only by some architect's zeal.

He looked at the picture again, caressing the image with arthritic fingers. A tear blurred his vision and he sniffed with self admonition. The halcyon days are gone, he reflected, but oh weren't they wonderful; the youthful exuberance, the fanciful imaginings . . .

The promises we made - he chuckled and muttered the words from the song they had danced to at school proms and a flood of visions from those burgeoning years brought on another irritating sniffle. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

The house phone rang and he answered, advised that he had a visitor on the way up. Standing the frame back on the table beside him, he stood with a grunt and shuffled to the door. Her smile had him straightening his back and he stepped forward to embrace her and usher her inside.

She glanced at the photograph and smiled then sat, patting the cushion beside her as an invitation. He didn't need one really and seated himself quickly beside her. Holding her hand, he swam in her eyes, enraptured.

Jerking awake with a start, realizing he had dozed. The picture frame had slipped down beside him and he picked it up gazing with overwhelming affection at the image. A fresh feeling of renewal stirred his sedentary brain and he smiled, tapping the picture with his finger.

"Thank you for the visit, my love . . . I miss you too."