Short Stories

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The Perfect Words

He held her hand as she lay in bed. This woman that he had spent his lifetime with was fading away. Tears poured down his cheeks as he pressed his against hers. “Please, stay with me for just a little while more”, he pleaded. “Don’t go just yet. Just give me time to find the perfect words to tell you how I feel.”

Slowly, gently, he eased his hand from hers. He kissed her frail cheek. Then he stood. With a lingering look at his wife, he walked out of the door of the bedroom they had shared for so many years. How pained and grief stricken he was. Silently, he closed the door.

Outside the door, he fell upon his knees. “Lord” he prayed, “all my life, I have been a man of few words. Please give me the perfect words to say”. Then he arose and went back into the room to be with his dying wife. Still, he could find no words to convey his feelings to this woman-the love of his life-all he could say was “I love you”.

Again he went out and prayed. “Please Father” he begged “give me the perfect words to say”. Yet, again, he was at a loss for words, and all he could say was “I love you”. How inadequate he felt as he searched for the words to describe the happiness and joy that she had given to him.

Holding her hand, he laid his head upon the bed. Somewhere, the exhaustion caught up with him and he dozed. He dreamed of her. He saw her as she was the first day he proclaimed his love for her. Oh how her eyes sparkled. “Say it again” she pleaded, and he whispered “I love you”. He saw her on their wedding day. No other bride could ever be as beautiful as she was. As she walked down the isle to him, he looked at her with amazement that she chose him to spend her life with. As he took her hand, he choked “I love you”. How radiant her smile became. He saw her the day she gave birth to their first son. As he looked down at the mother of his child, all he could say was “I love you”. He saw the first argument with himself storming out the door only to return with a handful of wild flowers that he had picked. He saw her curled up in her favorite chair, tears streaming down her face. Even then he was at a loss for words, all he could say was “I love you” Throughout their marriage, the ups and downs, the good times and bad, the happy and sad, he never found the perfect words to say . All he could do was hold her and say “I love you”. Then he saw her lying in their bed, so ill, her body just a skeleton and still, all he could say was “I love you”. Then, through his tears, the words came. “Because I love you, I release you to Our Father, to go in peace to Him. I love you.” Then he awakened.

Her breathing had become so shallow, but now there was a look of peace upon her face. Stroking her hair, he gently kissed her. He knew that her time on earth with him was at an end. As a parent would with a child, he tenderly picked her up in his arms and carried her to her aged, worn, favorite chair and held her close. Again, all he could say was “I love you”. He continued holding her and whispering “I love you” long after her final breath had been taken.

That night, he lay on the couch and wept. Sometime during the tears, he fell asleep. He dreamed of her again. But now she looked different. Oh how she glowed. Vitality and health radiated from her. “Take my hand and walk with me”, she requested. They walked through the fields among the wild flowers. In his dream, he found himself apologizing for never finding the right words to say. “Shh”, she smiled as she put her fingers to his lips. “You always had the perfect words. My darling, when you said “I love you”, you said it all.” She reached down and picked a flower and put it in his hands. Then taking his hands in hers, she looked lovingly in his eyes. “I love you” was spoken in unison.

He awoke the next morning and in his hand, he held a flower.

Kathleen Ann Shelton

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