Till Death Do Us Reunite

I stood staring at the base of the steps where the dark brown stain remained. It had been nine years since the sudden and startling passing of my beloved wife. The mark in the hardwood served as a reminder of the manner in which her body lay curled at the base of the steps, a pool of blood around her head like a sickly crimson halo. I still find myself staring at the spot picturing the blood that oozed from her head wound, seeking heavenly answers as to why it had to happen. It still felt like a surreal nightmare, a ghostly reminder of her presence. From that day on my life felt stagnant as I rehearsed the same staged directions and repeated the same lines. I didn’t have the heart to pack away her possessions, they still remained posed around the house as if they too were waiting for her return. I developed a belief in ghosts as I seeked out signs that her spirit remained in our home, hoping she would reach out to me. At the time friends awkwardly gathered attempting to find the words that would bring the utmost comfort, only to fall short. Truth is it would have just been nice if they had showed up and whisked me away, it’s difficult to express how daunting it is to ask for help.

If my sister were alive she would encourage me to move on, she had been a staunch woman who trusted only in information defined by cold hard facts confirmed by elite intellectuals. There was no time for religion or spirituality. If she were with me to this day she would scoff at my paranormal superstitions. But alas she left this plane before she had that chance to witness my mourning. A sigh escaped my lips, I can’t help but wallow in the tragedy of survival, of being the one to remember those who have passed. With each year I outlive more and more of my loved ones, hoping that I soon will join them. The older I grew the more convinced I was that my body would cling to life despite my unwillingness to, soon I shall be the oldest person alive with no loved ones left to congratulate me on my survival, save the vulture relatives seeking riches from my will. If I were a pharaoh I’d have all my worldly goods buried with me just to spite them, I imagined grinning from my grave as they pour my money, jewels, and precious metals upon my corpse.

The phone rang piercing the gloomy silence and my train of thought. I let it ring, waiting for the call to go to voicemail. There was no point to answering it anymore, with no friends left to call. I was left with the heckling calls of telemarketers. The phone continued to ring, it should have stopped by now but the shrill sound continued to echo through the house. I looked at my watch, three minutes had passed and the phone still refused to let up.

With a groan I stood up, my knees popping with the effort of hoisting my plump body. I padded across the carpeted floor my body incapable of moving at the speed I willed it to. Grabbing the headset I held it to my ear and said, a bit aggressively “hello?”

“Hello love.” cooed the voice on the other end. The voice undeniably was hers my heart leapt, a sensation I was sure my body had become incapable of.

“Oh this is… this can’t be real...” I sputtered. My body shook with my effort to remain calm, though I could not explain this phenomenon. My body ached to have her in my arms. “I just want to believe… I want it to be you. Please say it’s you.” the words spilled forth jumbled and incoherent as my emotions clogged my throat.

“It’s me, love.”

“I don’t understand… how?” She laughed a little.

“There are many things in this world that are inexplicable, but sometimes that’s what make them a little more magical.” I smiled through the tears and snot, it was exactly something Clarice would say.

“I’ve missed you so much.” A sob erupted from my lips. Despite being blessed with the sound of her voice once again, like a relapsing junkie I craved more.

“I’ve missed you!” she said as I continued to sob. I could hear her breathing on the other end of the line. “It’s been awhile hasn’t it?”

“Too long.”

“Should we celebrate?” I looked around in search of anything fit for a two person party before spotting her bottle of Merlot that perched waiting atop the fridge.

“How about your Merlot you never got a chance to drink?”

“That’ll be perfect! Better now than later a Merlot doesn’t age well it’s meant to be enjoyed during its prime.”

“I feel like a forgotten bottle of Merlot.” I mumbled into the receiver

“Well I never forgot you, my love.”

“And I never forgot you.” I said with a smile “give me a second I’m going to grab the bottle.” I set the phone down then shuffled over to the fridge. Reaching up had become an increasingly difficult task with time, the effort made me uncomfortably aware of the stiffness in my shoulders. Taking down two wine glasses from the cabinet I placed them on the table pouring a glass for her and myself.

“One for you, one for me” I narrated into the phone. I had noticed some disturbance around the chair in which my wife would normally sit at the table, but it was just barely imperceptible, only existing as a deep rooted premonition. I settled back into my chair and lifted the glass of wine to my lips. The soft garnet red liquid trickled along my tongue and down my throat the bitter flavor giving way to earthy undertones paired with notes of herbs and blackberries with a chocolate aftertaste as the grand finale.

“Did you ever find someone after I passed?”

“No..” I felt the wave of embarrassment rush over me, normally, the answer felt devastatingly lonely as if I had given up and resigned to waiting for death to knock on my door and escort me back to the love of my life. The tears brimmed in my eyes. “There was no one like you, you were… are my best friend,” tears raced down my cheeks as I attempted to keep my voice steady “you can’t beat the best!” I laughed a little my voice breaking it into a strange slightly strangled gurgle. I breathed deep attempting to gather myself. “This is the closest thing I’ve had to a date since you passed.”

“Well it can be our first post mortem date!” she said on the other end. I snorted at the twisted joke.

“This is the first one I’ve ever been on, well first first date I’ve been on since you… parted.”

“Well, it’s the best first dates I’ved ever been on!”

“Despite all the crying?” I asked.

“There is no one else in the world I want to go on a first date with.” my heart ached at her answer. Despite the oddity of the situation it was still comfortable… familiar. All of me wanted to believe it was her and had accepted it as so. Whatever I spoke with knew how to make my heart ache as she had in life, like a beautiful puppet master who knew all the ways in which she could pull the string to bring me to life. We were nearing the end of the bottle and the seat in which I had felt the presence seemed to emanate a slight fluctuating glow.

“There isn’t much left for me on this earth, there hasn’t been since you left me.” she was silent on the other end. “At each funeral the crowd gets smaller and smaller. There are less and less of us left. When I die there will be no one to attend my funeral.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, though you may feel alone in this realm there is a very large crowd in the spirit world. All those who never got to attend will be there honoring the moments they shared with you.” I chewed my lip as I attempted to stop it from quivering. We sat in silence for a while as I attempted to collect myself, sipping on my glass of Merlot in an attempt to still the trembling in my hands.

“Do you know why I’m here?”

“It’s time isn’t it?” Deep within my soul I knew it was, as if I could feel my thread taut between Atropos fingers the blade of her shears fraying the fibers.

“That it is.”

“About time.” I said with a smile.

“Till death do us reunite.”

“I look forward to seeing you my dear.” I said as my eyelids began to droop and crossing my arms I lay my head to rest atop them. As I drifted off to sleep I could feel my being slip through the small of my back, as if a painless pin prick of a worm hole had sprouted allowing my essence an escape from my body. As my essence slipped from me I drifted into a deep tranquil sleep, never to wake.