It was a sad sight.


As I looked across the street, I saw him walk out. He was leaving. Leaving her. She was at the door with her head in her arms. They had loved each other. But she had forgotten what love was . . . until now. Until he left. The child was peeking out, asking daddy if he was coming back. “Maybe” he answers with a sad look in his eyes. In his mind, thinking never. The child’s gone inside now. The lady follows. Slam! the door is shut. There’s no turning back. Not now, she says to herself. Crying. The tears keep coming.


He’s in the truck driving to his new house. He’s mad. He swears repeatedly. Now he’s crying. “Love lady, love!” he says. He’s pulling up to the driveway, his driveway. Without her. Parking the car, he stumbles out and fumbles with the lock. Stepping inside, he tumbles down onto the floor.

He’s a wreck.


Two days later . . . Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong. With a thin smile on her gaunt face, she walks over. She opens the door a crack, doesn’t see anyone. She tries to close the door but something is blocking it. She looks down. Flowers! With them is a card. It says, Love lady, love. “Who’s it from?” she wonders aloud. The child’s tear-stained face peeks out. “What is it?” “It’s from daddy.” Gentle is the reply. Tears are the outcome. The child, seeing its mother cry, turns and runs back into the house. Suddenly . . . SLAM! and then crying. Loud sobs echo t through the hallway. Then, it ceases. She walks into the room. The child is gone. The open window shows the escape. The lady breaks down and cries. Long, hard sobs. Two minutes later, she’s asleep.


The man is satisfied. He is now able to forget his former life. Almost. Though he will not admit it, he misses her. Misses the child. Too much. The man runs outside, jumps in his car and drives away. He drives for a long time. Finally, he stops at the side of the road. It is dark. There, he leans forward and cries himself to sleep.


Beep-beep-beep. The lady looks up. 2:00 a.m. the clock says. She rolls back over. Then, “The child!” The lady gets up, hurriedly dresses and runs out the door. She’s running, running. When she can run no more she sinks down onto the grass and passes out.


The man wakes up. He looks around. Then he remembers. The man opens the door and stumbles out. He feels the ocean breeze. He sees a child. A child with dark hair and a thin figure. Could it be? He runs, no, flies down to the child. It turns, looks him straight in the eye. “You left us.” The quiet voice brings back memories. The tears start flowing. The man bends down. The child turns away. “Please, forgive me.” The man sobs. The child, even more quietly, says “No.” the simple answer is enough for the man. Still sobbing, he turns and runs up the hill.


The next day, the newspaper is delivered. The man is dead. He died with the child’s answer ringing in his ears. No. no. no. no. no. Somehow, the child found its way back to the house. It found the lady. The funeral is Friday. The lady is crying now. More every night. The child remains silent. It speaks to no one.


Before he died, the man had said, “Forgive child, forgive.” Those were his last words. Then, he was gone.


Today there is another moving van. The lady and the child are leaving. This place holds too many memories. The lady vows never to marry again. Together she and the child will live by themselves. Just the two of them. They will love each other. Just as the man said. “Love Lady, love.”