Of pumpkins and bears by Reeshma

Her lips gently carved the sweetest, tiny smile. The cold winds of November blew through the cracks of the old house. She pulled the sheets up to her chin. The smile still there. He inched closer to her to make her feel warmer. He was cold too. But he has felt this before. This atmosphere, this scene. He has been here before. But when? His mind was as frail as his body. Recollecting memories is an arduous task now. He tried harder. Her eyelids flickered. He remembered.

“Up on the mountains? Maybe up a hill honey. We could go down and get water from a stream easily like Jack and Jill”.“Okay a hill, now let me continue”. He rose up from her laps and kissed her lips before she could continue. “Alright, no more I promise till you finish. Go”. She liked it but tapped him gently on his forehead. “So it’ll be a small cottage up a hill. Iceland or Switzerland. Ooooo Switzerland please! Just you and me in there. You’ll be seventy five and I’ll be seventy four. You’ll wake up one morning and watch me sleeping. I’ll feel cold so you’ll hug me to keep me warm with your old, wrinkly hands.” They both chuckled at this point. “We’ll be cuddly bears in bed as we look back at our times together. All the memories and stories we’ve made till then. We’ll keep our old phones next to our bed so we can look through our old photos and messages.” He just nodded as he was tearing up a little. He loved her so much. A life with this girl would be so beautiful. She bent down and kissed him this time.

She rolled around a little bit before opening her eyes. “Good morning pumpkin” he whispered. She smiled as she pulled herself closer to him and rested her head on his chest. On him lay a woman who he admired till this day, a woman so strong yet so humble, a woman who gave her everything to him and expected only love in return, a woman who went against all odds so she could spend her life with the man she love. She was his darling. “Making wishes on birthdays while you blow candles do work” “Why?” she asked. “Life has been kind to me, granting me my wish to wake up next to you every morning all these fifty two years.” “I love you baby” she said in a cute sleepy morning voice. He picked up her old iPhone from the desk and swiped it till a photo popped up. “Remember this bear?” She squinted her eyes looking at the photo and soon smiled. “Our first picnic”. Their soft hands held each other.