The Garden

The sun was hot on her face as she laid in her garden. A smile across her face as she soaked in the heat. It had been raining and cold all week, now the rain spell was broken. A slight breeze rippled through the grass, the sounds of birds chirping, insects buzzing. She didn't even care the ground was still wet and a bit muddy. She had missed being in her garden which was her pride and joy. She sat up, her long brown hair sticking to her back and started inspecting the flowers around her. Making sure the rain didn't over-water them. She gleamed when she was done - none of her flowers wilting. She stood up and started spinning in the middle, her light-blue dress flowing around her, arms out and face towards the sky.

A man approached her from behind and put his arm on her shoulder to stop her spinning and placed his arms around her waist, kissing her on the temple.

"Well looks like someone is happy.", The man said with a smile almost as big as hers and spun her around to give her a proper kiss. He loved her smile and looking into her sky-blue eyes. Her garden may have been her pride and joy, but she was his. He often asked himself how did he get so lucky as to be with her.

"Of course I'm happy. The rain is finally gone, the sun is out and I get to be in your arms in such a beautiful home.", She replied back to him, going on her tip-toes to give him another kiss. They had recently gotten her dream home, a decent sized cottage style house with a white fence all around and the perfect amount of space, front and back, for her to do her passion. It was like a fairy tale to her and she couldn't imagine it with anyone else.

"You should come inside, it's still wet - don't give me that sad face.", He smiled at her, "The weather will be the same tomorrow and the garden isn't going anywhere. At least tomorrow everything will be dry and we can have a ittle picnic by the pond.", He kissed her on the forehead, put his arm around her shoulders and lead her back to the house. Once inside she went to shower and change out of her wet and muddy clothes, while he started a small fire in their fireplace and put a kettle on the stove. Even though it was summer she loved having a fire on to sit by and drink tea and read. It also helped keep her warm after her showers as she was always freezing afterward.

When she was done she came back downstairs, got her tea and they both got their books. They sat on the couch together, him sitting while she laid on her side with her head on his lap. Every once in a while they'd ask how their book was or what was happening. He always knew something interesting or big was happening when she'd sit upright. It always made him chuckle when she'd ask how he knew something was happening.

"Lucky guess.", He'd smile at her and she'd squint at him. After about an hour they both stopped to put their books down and decided to watch T.V. Now it was his turn to put his head in her lap. As he did so she would scratch his head and play with his hair. One of his favorite things that always made him tired and fall asleep. Looking at them through the window you'd think they were in the "honey moon" stage of their relationship. You'd never think they were together for ten years, still acting like they did when they first met. He still gave her butterflies whenever he'd kiss her and she for him..in another way.

But surprisingly they weren't married yet or even engaged. They didn't see a point in it when they knew they didn't want to be with anyone else and that they were soulmates. They had everything they wanted - a beautiful home, two cats they'd die for and, most importantly, each other. People always shocked they could still be that way with one another when they also worked together.

"I could never do that. I mean, I love my partner but to be with them twenty-four, seven?.", people would say to them.

"We just make it work. We know how to separate work and personal life.", is the reply they would give to anyone who said anything. And they did, now that doesn't mean they never had arguments, they certainly did. But they never held a grudge against one another. After a couple of hours you'd never know they even had an argument.

"Baby it's time to get up. I gotta make dinner.", She gently stroked his shoulder and arm and he reluctantly got up. She made them dinner, grilled salmon with rice pilaf. They ate and laughed as one of their cats kept trying to get the food off their plates or forks. She went to bed while he stayed up and played video games. The next morning she woke up to the sun shining through the window. She smiled and hopped out of bed, got dressed and headed to her garden. She decided to feed the cats outside since it was a nice day and after they ate they roamed looking for mice and other small creatures to hunt.

She fed the fish in the pond, shooed away the cats, refilled the bird feeders, and got to work weeding and trimming. After a while she took a break, sitting down on the bench by her roses. Just sitting there watching the cats play, trying to get the birds that came to the feeder. Looking at the grass rippling in the small breeze. She then looked to the sky to watch the clouds. Pointing out shapes to herself and smiling.

"I should get Mike up.", She thought to herself and started to head inside when he came out, small picnic basket in hand like he promised.

"I was just about to come wake you up. I'm surprised you're up this early.", Mike usually woke up in the afternoon when he would play video games the night before. It was rare for him to be up before 2 o'clock PM on those days.

"Well, I made a promise we would have lunch by the pond today. I wanted to make sure I kept my promise.", They walked together to the little pond and sat down. The cats came over and joined them, Mike giving them little plates of wet food so they were included. Tired from all the playing and eating they then laid down stretched out on their backs, basking in the sun. One of their favorite things to do. They pet their bellies and chins and gave them both kisses.

"Would you like some wine, my love?", Mike asked her - holding out a bottle of white wine. She nodded and he poured her a small glass.

"Maybe we should move to the table? There isn't really a flat enough spot to put the glasses on."

"Yeah, we can do that. It's whatever you want to do sweetie.", He replied and they gathered everything up and moved to the glass table on the patio by the house. They ate and spoke about what else to do that weekend as well as talking about a weird dream she had had the night before.

"It was a dream within a dream but, like, the same one five or six times..", Her brows furrowed, "It was to the point I wasn't sure if I was actually awake or not. Everything was the same when I woke up like how it was in my "dreams". I also remember you died in my dream but I don't remember how.", She was visibly upset by it. She believed dreams could sometimes predict the future. Mike thought that was nonsense and he didn't believe in anything supernatural. The only thing of theirs NOT in common. She believed in ghosts, witchcraft, spirits and he didn't. He would make fun of her ghost hunting shows.

She started crying a little bit -

"Hey - hey, baby I'm still here. I'm not dead and you're definitely awake.", He tried to reassure her putting his arm on her shoulder. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, her bottom lip quivering a bit.

"Ally, sweetheart, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

She just nodded as he cupped his hand on her face and leaned over to kiss her. Ally knew he was serious since he said her actual name. It didn't necessarily make her feel better but she pushed it aside.

"So you're okay? There's nothing going on, right?', She asked him still looking worried.

"I promise I'm okay, there's nothing wrong with me.", Mike smiled at her his hand over hers. She took his hand, squeezed it and kissed it. They then went on with their lunch.

"Actually, there's is something going on and I want to ask you something.", Ally looked up at him suspiciously as he stood up, taking her hand and getting down on one knee -

"Will you marry me?", Mike presented the box with a beautiful sapphire ring in it. Her heart skipped a few beats, mouth open, tears streaming down her cheeks. She then jumped down to him giving him the biggest hug she had ever given him while sobbing

"Yes!, yes I will marry you!.", Her hand shaking as he put the ring on her finger. They then shared an intense embrace and he then carried her upstairs... as they laid in bed afterward looking at each other they both felt the happiest they had ever felt before. The next morning Ally was back in her garden singing while doing her work. It looked even more beautiful than ever to her. She kept taking her glove off to look at her ring, giggling like a school girl each time she looked at it.

"Took him long enough!.", She thought to herself grinning ear to ear. The cats looking at her confused as to why she was being so giddy. Annoyed that she kept picking them up and "dancing" with them. Mike awoke looked out the window and laughed watching her dance with a cat that clearly wanted to get down. He just stood there and watched her for a long time. His smile eventually disappeared. He then went outside to help her with whatever she needed help with that day. They spoke about the wedding, who to invite, where to have it, Ally saying she already knew the dress she wanted. Mike told her "Whatever you want baby" to everything she said. When she asked his opinion on something he would just say

"You know I don't like planning anything. Plus it's something you've been thinking about since you were little. So you know better than me.", Which was true - Mike did not like planning anything. Even if it's for his own birthday he won't make a decision.

A few weeks passed and the weather went back to rainy and cold. They spent their nights by the fire reading, watching T.V., or talking about the wedding. They decided to get married on their anniversary so it would be easy to remember and because it was in the Spring so the weather would be good. They also decided to get married at home in their garden as well as have the reception there. Once they did the math and figured out about how many people would be there.

"If you change your mind my parents already said they will help with the venue.", Mike told her, "I know you're going to be nervous that someone may damage it."

"Well, we could just have the ceremony at home and the reception somewhere else. It's not uncommon to do that.", Ally say there thinking. "But you know I'm horrible at making decisions." They both laughed.

"It's a while away anyway so we still have time to make a final decision.", This made Ally feel a little better. They had been fighting a bit more with all the wedding talk, which is something they were warned about. It just sucked because it carried over into every day things too. Like cleaning the litter boxes or grocery shopping. Both of their attitudes were a bit higher due to stress. Ally felt terrible about it and always apologized as Mike didn't deserve that. He already tried so hard with everything else despite his own battles. The weather started clearing up again which put them both in better moods. Ally had her garden again and Mike had his alone time playing video games. Working and living together, while they made it work, it was hard. The weather continued to be good for the next couple of weeks and they decided to go to Mike's parents one Sunday.

His dad recently got a new antique car that they were both working on. It was a gift to Mike but really his dad used that as an excuse to have another car to work on, especially now that his was fully restored. So they headed to his parents for the day, also bringing their laundry since their dryer broke and they had to hang dry everything. The day started okay, Mike was a little agitated about something but wouldn't say what. Things seemed fine on their way there and for the first few hours they were there. Ally wasn't sure what was wrong but when she asked he would say "nothing", or "I'm fine". They got to his parents and Ally started the laundry while Mike and his dad worked on the car before Mike took it out for a drive. Ally spent time with his mother, mostly outside as she was swimming in their pool. They talked and smoked cigarettes and when the men came back inside they started talking about what to do for dinner.

When his parents went inside Ally asked Mike again if he was ok and he said yes. Shortly after they went back inside where Ally started to feel tired and put her head down on the back on the couch. She was recently put on a new controversial medication which didn't make Mike happy. He texted her angry and told her to go lay down somewhere else. So she did and woke up an hour later. They finished their time at his parents and went home. Mike didn't speak the entire way home and kept changing the songs she would put on.

"You don't want to be with me anymore do you?', She asked him.

"Of course I do. I just need some time alone right now.", Ally said okay and started crying. They got home and just sat on the couch in silence. Mike watching T.V. and Ally on her phone. Around midnight Mike went outside for a cigarette and Ally took some sleeping meds and went to bed.

When she woke the next morning Mike wasn't in bed.

"He must not have went to bed last night.", She thought to herself. She could see the light was still on and she could hear the T.V. She walked downstairs but he wasn't on the couch. She looked towards the kitchen and to the front door but the door was locked. Mike had a bad habit of not locking it. She walked a little further out and that's when she saw it - his legs om the ground outside on the patio. Her world crashed around her.

She ran to him and stopped dead in her tracks. He was face-down on the ground, his head and neck 8 inches off the ground on the bar on the metal patio chair. She ran down to him and shook him -

"Babe?", she shook him again, "BABE?", and again, and again. She put her hand on his leg, it was cold.

"His legs are exposed, of course they're cold,", She touched his lower back beneath his shirt. She stood up, tears streaming down her face. She went back down and with both hands shook him hard

"MICHAEL!", She went inside to find her phone,

"No, no, no, no, no" She found her phone and called 9-1-1

"M-my fiancee, he's face down on our patio. I can't get him up."

"I can't lift him! He's too heavy and I recently hurt my back really bad" "No, I don't know anybody who can help me move him"

She then ran out the house, running to their closest neighbor, she banged on the door but there was no answer. She ran back to their house and back to the patio.

She put her phone down on the table and on speaker - she managed to lift him three inches...his head and neck didn't move. She did this six more times, hoping it wasn't what she knew it was. What she knew the moment she saw his legs.

"Ma'am? Hello?"

"He's in rigor....", She whispered.... "He's in..."

"BABEE"

"BABY, WAKE UP!"

"BAABBEE PLEASE"

She picked up her phone to ask where the paramedics were. They said only a few minutes out. She asked four more times, same answer. She looked at the time. Only five minutes had passed. She fell back to the floor, next to Mike's body, screaming for him. Begging for him to wake up. Apologizing over and over. Screaming for the universe to give him back to her. The paramedics finally arrived after their neighbor ran over when he heard the screaming. She didn't understand, she saw him that night after she went to bed. Their time of death didn't make sense to her. She told them the events from that day over and over. And again when the cops came. She then had to make the call to his parents. It felt like a nightmare. Like none of it was real. Then she remembered the dream she had and fell to the floor screaming once again. All the times she asked if he was okay. All the times he'd smile and say he was fine. When they took his body she gathered the cats and went to his parents. It was supposed to be a clear day that day. The minute she walked inside their house the skies opened up. She knew it was Mike.

The next few weeks were a blur. They had a private viewing where she was able to give a proper goodbye. They had his service, everyone who was there in the beginning began to fade away. She spent a month with his parents, then she had to go "home". The place that was once a fairy tale now a tomb. She didn't care her garden had started to wither. She went and looked to the spot that both took his life and gave her the happiest day of her life. She dropped to the floor and started crying. She didn't stop for hours. She refused to go to their bedroom. She could pretend he was sleeping.

She placed his urn on top of his desk and put his gaming headphones on it. She gave it a kiss then looked down at her stomach. She never got to tell him, or anyone. She found out a week before and was going to surprise him after her doctor appointment confirmed. She lost both of them that morning. It was just her and the cats now. How was she supposed to live without him? She didn't know anymore. She walked out to her garden and to the bench by her rose bush. One rose fully bloomed. She looked around and everything looked gray and dead. She laid on the bench, rose in hand, looked at the cloudless night sky and wished on the shooting star to be with Mike again. Then, she closed her eyes and withered away.