Five Minute Fiction.

Hope.

The surface of the water reflected the beautiful sky, as if it were made of mirrored glass. The air was fresh, the slight chill nipping at his ears as he stared out over the Lake. It always looked the same this time of year, always looked so picturesque.

He sat on the bench, watching as people milled past him. He liked people watching, liked thinking up stories for them, imagining what sort of life they had. He watched as a small boy chased a dog across the frosty grass, his parents in turn chasing after him. It brought a smile to his lips and a warmth to his heart.

He’d never had the pleasure of having children. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted them, he just hadn’t wanted them with anyone but her, and when she left, she took with her the life that he so desperately wanted for himself.

He closed his eyes, thinking back to those magical months they had spent together. He hadn’t loved someone as much as that before and had never again since. They’d made enough amazing memories to keep him going for nearly sixty years.

His favourite was the day before she had left, before her parents had decided to move. He surprised her with a trip to the lake, setting up a candlelit picnic by the water. She’d looked so beautiful in her blue dress, the colour bringing out the sparkle in her eyes. She gone to the effort of curling her hair and she’d stole his breath away.

He’d begged her to stay, begged her to choose him instead, but her parents would have disowned her, and she just couldn’t live with that. He understood, if she stayed for him but lost her parents their relationship would never be the same anyway. Her love for him would disintegrate with every day she lived through the heartbreak until eventually she would despise and resent him for it. It’s why he had let her go, but not without a promise.

And so here he sat again…waiting. He looked down at the flowers beside him, slowly starting to wilt in the cold, frigid air. He sighed. He wasn’t the man he once was, he couldn’t sit as long on the freezing bench, his joints just wouldn’t allow it.

He sighed, his fingers closing around his cane as he pulled himself up to standing. He picked up the flowers, another little piece of his heart breaking off and disappearing into the years of lost hope. He took a last look at the lake, wondering whether he would make it through another year, whether he would make to the bench again.

“Tom.” His old ticker leapt in his chest like he was thirty years younger. He would know that voice anywhere.

“Delia,” he choked, turning and facing her. She was beautiful, still looking as radiant as she had that last time he had seen her and as he drank her in, his eyes filled with tears.

“Your dress.”

“I could never let it go,” she smiled, turning slowly. The blue still made her eyes shine. He stepped towards her and held out the flowers.

“Happy birthday my love.” She took them, inhaling their beautifully soft scent.

“Thank you. They’re truly beautiful.” He shook his head, hardly daring to believe she was here. He had hoped, he had prayed, every time he had shown up to the bench, that she would be sat waiting for him but over the years that hope had slowly died.

“I can’t believe you came,” he whispered.

“I promised I would.”