Life in a Minor Key - by Susan Giles

https://Voice.club - Bright pink roses grow in abundance along the fence row. Beneath them, the tiny gravestone is lost from sight.

Raising her eyes to the horizon, Rebecca senses both the roses and the grave below, which is never far from her thoughts.

Hearing a fragment of song on the breeze, she sighs. Charles is working in the upper field, seemingly unaware of what lies a few feet in front of him.

“Of course.” Rebecca’s thoughts echo the bitter words she has never spoken. “He would sing while my heart weeps.”

Although it’s been six months since dirt and ivy covered the mound, the pain inside has not lessened.

“If only he would acknowledge my loss,” Rebecca speaks aloud. “How can he be so thoughtless! I need him to grieve with me. I need him to feel the same pain I feel.” The more these thoughts come to her, the angrier she becomes.

Suddenly she stops as the song, which has gotten louder, breaks through her consciousness. It’s the lullaby she had sung to their baby, but Charles is singing it slower, dirge-like, in a minor key! She looks at the area where he has been working. The ground there is hacked, the vegetation slashed, until nothing is left but red clay and destruction.

“Not my loss, but our loss,” she whispers, finally comprehending.

Rebecca hurriedly wipes the tears off her cheeks and starts up the hill to meet Charles as he approaches, handing her sprigs of pink roses.

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Sometimes we failed to understand our husband’s way of grieving. We failed to understand their action and their emotions. Because most men are good at hiding their feelings. Good thing that Rebecca finally comprehends her husband’s emotions.

As much as we as individuals crave understanding from others, it is sometimes difficult to appreciate the fact they also need our understanding. A difficult lesson to live.

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@SusanGiles

Indeed, a beautiful story to bear in mind. Thank you, Susan.