He Isn't Here

The house should have been bright with boxes waiting to be collected by a removal lorry; instead, Laurie stood looking around at her home knowing that something would now always be missing. She didn't have the heart to pack, this was his home too but he wasn't here and he wasn't coming back. If she dared to say it aloud, she hadn't yet; she knew it would be real. She saw Harry sitting happily in the corner playing with his toys, oblivious to what was happening around him. How can you explain to a three-year-old that daddy won't be coming home; he'll be waiting at the window tonight like he always does but he won't arrive.

Laurie saw a shadow at the door, she knew it was her mother but she just stood there, frozen in time. For the first time, she didn't know what to do, what to say, even how to open the door to her own mother. Her mother had a key and let herself in, then Laurie saw her Mother speaking to her but she couldn't hear the words, she had no idea what she was trying to say to her.

After being guided gently to a chair, she watched the kettle being put on. It was then that she saw a small box beside her; the one that had held the ring she now wore. The world in front of her cracked into a mosaic and fell apart, she couldn't replace the man she'd lost but her mother's arms were there to hold her, for this Laurie was grateful.