Marble Rose

The Novelist Club Contest Entry

A short story by Abigail Grace

Bradley Jenkins unlatched the car door and stepped into the autumn air.  Wind tugged at his collar and tousled his hair, but his only thought was for the marble gravestone thirty yards away.  He fingered the single pink rose he carried, wrapped carefully in tissue paper, and took a deep breath.  Laura . . .
        “Daddy, can I come?” a girlish voice called from the backseat.
        “No, Gabs.  Stay here.”  He shut the door behind him and walked slowly across the grass until he reached a simple monument erected just two weeks before.  Bradley lowered his fingers and traced them across the cool stone.  A lump formed in his throat, and tears began to slip down his cheeks.
        “Laura . . .” he whispered.  “How can I go on without you?”  His shoulders shook, and he sank to his knees.  With trembling fingers, he placed the rose on the ground before the headstone.  “I . . . I don’t know what to do.  You always had all the answers, and now . . .”
        The invisible hand of grief seized Bradley’s heart and tore it in two.  His entire body quaked as sobs ripped themselves loose from his very core.  “Oh, God!  Why?  Why did you take her from me?  Why . . . ?”
        He sank farther to the ground and fiercely clutched his hair.  Unable to think or even breathe, he remained there for an agonizing eternity of moments before his intense emotion at last subsided.  His shoulders trembled a finial time, and he lifted his head.  “Laura, I loved you . . . so deeply.”
        Bradley slowly lifted his hand and touched the monument as if touching her face.  Brokenly, he closed his eyes and whispered, “I’m nothing without you.”
        Nothing?
        The thought tugged at the back of his mind.
        Am I really nothing?  What do I have left?
        “Daddy?”
        Bradley turned to see his little girl standing a few feet away, her rosy face etched with concern and fear.  He blinked back the tears still spilling from his eyes.  “Gabby . . .”
        She took a hesitant step toward him.  “Why are you crying, Daddy?”
        “Because I miss your mommy.”  He tried to smile and held out his hand to her.  “Come give me a hug.”
        “Okay, Daddy.”  Gabby giggled and ran into his arms.
        He held her close to his chest and stroked her long, blonde hair.  So much like Laura . . . He squeezed her tightly and kissed her cheek.  “I love you.”
        She grinned at him.  “I love you, too.”
        Bradley only ruffled her hair in silence.  
        Gabby peered up at him with wide, blue eyes.  “Where’s Mommy now?”
        “Well . . .”  He drew a shaky breath.  “Mommy’s in heaven.”
        “In heaven?”
        “Yes, way up there,” he said, pointing toward the sky.
        “Oh.  Is heaven a happy place?”
        “Very happy.”
        “When can we go see her?”
        Bradley sighed.  “Not for a really, really long time.”
        “Oh.”  Gabby lowered her eyes and noticed the rose lying on the ground beside the gravestone.  “Daddy, what’s the flower for?”
        “It’s for your mom, because . . . because I love her.”
        “It’s pretty,” she said as she touched the petals.  “Do flowers make you think of Mommy?”
        “Yeah, yeah they do.  I miss her a lot, Gabs.”
        “Me too.”
        Bradley drew her up in a tug again and slowly let out is breath.  With it, the grief he carried fell from his shoulders.  “We’ll never forget her, will we?”
        “Nope, never!”
        He patted her cheek and stood.  “Why don’t you go back to the car now?  I’ll be there in a minute.”
        “Okay.”  Gabby squeezed her dad’s hand and then set off on her merry way, skipping and giggling when she nearly tripped.
        Bradley shook his head as he watched and smiled to himself.  Thank God I do have something left.  He passed his fingers over the cool marble a final time.  I love you, Laura, but I will not let this ruin me.  Closing his eyes, Bradley let the wind rush through his hair.  Peace filled him and lightened his heart.  For her sake, I will be strong.