Goodbye

It is the end of a long hot day, and a certain pleasantness has descended upon the twilight that the daytime could not find. As I look out across the tree covered suburb I call home I am, for the moment, at peace. The woman I love, have always loved, sits beside me on a park bench and remains a vision. I steal a glance to catch her eye, and then my heart sinks as I am reminded of what it is that I must do.

I pause for a moment on the twist of fate that brought us back here, back to the place where it essentially all began. It was yesterday, but it was years and altogether a lifetime ago.

“Goodbye” I say, my voice stumbling a little more than I had hoped.
A pause.
“See ya”.
Her voice is gentle, her eyes meet the ground and I know that she will not cry.
“No” I say calmly. “You won’t”.
I turn and leave her where she stands, the magnificent of sunset reflecting off her supple skin and I feel sure that I will not make it. My every fibre aches, and my stomach lurches as if possessed. As the first of a few tears begin their journey down my cheeks, I feel it all swallow me up.
How strange that in that very same moment I know that these tears, my very soul’s blood, will be my last for her, the one.