I sold everything I had. My old car, my chair, my records. Even my watch, the very one I got for retirement. All for one ticket. One way.
I found my ex-girlfriend, with whom we broke up in our youth and stupidity and had not seen each other for almost 50 years. But I always loved only her and always thought about her. I thought she had forgotten me. It turned out she had not forgotten, although she married another man and gave birth to a son.
Now I had the address of my beloved woman. Her son answered the letter – said that she remembered everything.
The plane took off, I hugged the photo to my chest. We were laughing, still young, on the river bank. I was holding her hand. The photo was old, faded, but I knew every curve of her smile by heart. After our last meeting, I never saw her again and didn’t even know what she looked like now.
At the height, when the plane entered the clouds, the phone vibrated. I was in no hurry to look. My heart was already beating too hard. But I opened it. And then my whole world collapsed, now I don’t know how to live on. Continuation
“Sorry… Mom died last night. She was waiting. Really waiting for you.”
I didn’t feel any pain. Just…emptiness. Like everything inside me suddenly went silent. The world went dark. I don’t remember my head falling back. I only heard screams, footsteps, someone saying something, holding my hand.
I woke up later. On the ground. There were unfamiliar faces around. Someone gave me water. Someone asked how I was. I nodded. There was nothing to say. Only one thing:
– “I’ll get there anyway. I promised.”
And I got there. I bought a bouquet – modest, wildflowers. I arrived at the cemetery. I found a slab with her name. I sat down next to it. I put a photo. And a ticket.
– “Sorry. I’m late.”
Then I just sat. Listened to the wind. And the silence. She was here. I knew it.
That’s how it always seems to us that we still have time, that we can still hug, kiss and without understanding we part for stupid reasons, and then it’s too late. I was never able to see my beloved, although I waited for our meeting almost all my life.
