This post is for Yeah Write’s weekly fiction/poetry challenge. This is the first time I’ve tried to write using a prompt. This week’s prompt is “I may have to start making my Bed”. Read on!
She’s gone. From my bed, my home and my life. My mind and heart however, are still clinging on to her. We’ve shared too many memories to let go so easily. I am so habituated to a life with her, to our daily routine, to our banter and our bickering that nothing makes sense anymore. She is still that annoying voice of reason in my head. But I fear I will forget how it sounds as time goes by. I feel like that kid in school whose best friend didn’t show up and he has to make it through the day alone.
50 years is a long time to be together. Well meaning relatives and friends drop by with casseroles and condolences, but there is still a gaping void which no one can fill. I always feel her presence pottering around the house. A strand of fiery red hair somewhere in the house catches me unawares and I am shoved once again into memory lane.
Death really is harder on the living. Like a toddler learning to take his first steps, I have to learn to live without her. I have to start picking up pieces of my life and try to make some sense out of them. Those casseroles will start dwindling, so I may have to start cooking soon. She is still alive in the creases of the bedspread. If I have to continue living, I may have to start making my bed.
Poignant. Sensitively narrated. Good one!
Thank you 🙂
very nice attempt… it's good fun writing for prompts… 🙂
Cheers, Archana – http://www.travelwitharchie.com
Thanks, Archana. It's harder than I realized but fun, nevertheless.
We depend on our partners a lot and that's called love. Death will never separate the loving souls.
Absolutely! We don't realize how much we lean on them and over time, they become like a second skin to us 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
That was a lovely take on the prompt Hema! Made me imagine the whole thing!
Thank you, Kala! As I take baby steps in writing fiction,what a compliment it is coming from you 🙂
Really good one! I wanted to write the same about my MIL, she is in same state due to my FIL passing away suddenly last year
Sorry about your loss! I lost a close family member too and his spouse is inconsolable. For some reason, this prompt reminded me of her.
I can only imagine how difficult it must be to lose a spouse; you have captured it so well, Hema. You really have a knack for this. I enjoy your writing.
Thank you so much, Shantala!
A beautiful sentence: She is still alive in the creases of the bedspread.
I agree. That sentence stood out to me as well.
Thank you very much! You're both so kind 🙂
I especially loved this line: I feel like that kid in school whose best friend didn't show up and he has to make it through the day alone.
Losing a spouse has to be one of the hardest things that we have to go through. I think you've written a soulful piece here that hits every beat perfectly.
Thank you, Melony! We've all been there, haven't we? Those days when your best friend doesn't show up!
Excellent! Not a single sentence is without a meaning here. I read the last one 'if I have to continue living…….' again and again.
Thank you, Saket! So glad you like it.
Nicely put together the hardships of missing someone!
Thanks, Alok!
This is lovely, Hema. "Still alive in the creases of the bedspread." What a wonderful image!
Thank you, Cheryl!