Brighter in Death Then in Life

I watched my husband leave in his uniform from my window on the second floor of the house. I sighed; pain was causing my heart to shatter into pieces. I would wait for him until he came back; I bit my lip as a horrible thought broke through the barrier I had constructed around my heart. What if he never comes back? I shook my head, he would survive... He had to survive... I watched my 14 year old daughter give her father a hug and wave goodbye. I shook my head, I can't tell him goodbye. If I did I would never stop crying

Years passed and I waited for my husband to come back to me from the dreaded War. My daughter, now 16 walked into my room. "There is a man at the door mom." She said, I jumped up and ran to the door, a man stood in a clean uniform... But it wasn't HIM. He looked sad as he handed me a small slip of paper. Fear clutched my stomach as I realized what was happening; I grabbed the note and read over what it said,

Dear Mrs. Victoria, 
      We are very sad to say that your husband, Mr. Alexander, was Killed in Action...His body will be given a honorable burial. We are all grieving Alexander's death. He was an amazing soldier and a even better friend... He was killed by a shot through the heart while protecting another young soldier named Mr. Edmund, The man I sent to give you this letter is the one your husband died protecting. That young man survived because of Alexander's sacrifice..
                                                                                                   Sincerely,                                                                                                                 Mr. Alphonse

I looked up at the man in front of me; he had curly black hair and eyes the color of the sea. He had tears running down his cheeks as he looked at me with a look of despair and self-loathing. I couldn't cry... Not in front of him, If I did he would hate himself even more then he already did. So I walked over to him dropping the note on the ground. He closed his eyes expecting me to slap him or worse. But instead I hugged him, I hugged him as hard as I could and comforted him by showing I didn't blame him for my husband's death. It wasn't his fault, Alexander had always like playing hero. The soldier broke down and sobbed into my shoulder soaking my pale blue dress.
It was the second anniversary of Alexander's death...  I had been alone for a year now. My daughter Emily married young Edmund, having fallen for the sweet soldier. I stared out of the window wishing I could see Alexander at least once more... I choked and let a sorrowful sob rack my body. The pain and mourning was finally catching up with me. I stood up from my creaky old rocking chair letting another cry of pain cause my small frame to shake violently. Falling to the ground I let tears of loss drip from my chin onto the floor making a puddle of water. In the middle of a blood-curdling scream I felt a hand gently touch my hair, softly pulling on my ponytail. I looked up tears staining my cheeks. Alexander stood in front of me smiling softly, holding out his hand. "You came back!" I said taking his hand and letting him pull me up into a big bear hug. “I’m so sorry it took so long Victoria..."  Another sob shook my body but this time of happiness. "Let us be off..." Alexander said softly tugging on my hand. A happy smile spread across my now youthful face.
I walked into my mother's room to find a horrifying and yet sadly happy scene. My mom was lying on the floor in a small puddle of tears, Dead. "Mother..." I said running to her side tears sliding down my cheeks. Edmund walked in behind me his eye's widening at the site of me sitting by my mom’s dead body and softly stroking her straight brown hair. "Oh my god, I am so sorry Emily..." I smiled gently, "its okay, look." I said pointing to the happy smile on my moms face; Understanding became apparent in his eyes as he saw the smile. My mom hadn't smiled since the day we received the letter about dad’s death, or at least not a REAL smile. All of her smiles had been fake and forced. I could tell she loved me but, my dad’s death pretty much caused her to die on the inside. I sometimes think she stayed alive this long just to make sure I would be okay, that I would have someone to keep me happy. One of my tears softly dropped onto my moms cheeks. "Dad finally came back..." I said closing my mom’s green eye's, brighter in death then in life...

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