In Remembrance

by John Gaffield

answer to this, he knew what he had to do with it. The cup would not travel well in the car. So he found an old towel which he then soaked in water from the sink. Removing the rose from the cup, he wrapped the stem with the wet towel. After setting it on the counter, he found a plastic bag to place the towel into. He then left the covered rose on the counter to find his keys, which were still in his bedroom.

  With keys in hand, Jeremy returned to the kitchen. The rose was still on the counter, but the bag was on the floor and the towel was unwrapped with the rose lying on top of it. He was quite puzzled, but thought that the towel had just unraveled itself and pushed the bag off the counter.

  After staring a few seconds more, Jeremy bent down to pick up the bag and rewrapped the rose. After carefully placing the rose and towel into the bag, he headed toward the back door to get to his car in the garage. As he pulled the back door open, some movement caught his eye in his peripheral vision. Puzzled, he turned around, but could not see anything. The kitchen was silent too. Thinking that his eyes may have just been playing tricks on him, he continued into the garage and closed the door behind himself. Once in the driver’s seat, he set the wrapped flower on the passenger seat. After backing out of the driveway, he started driving the same route he had done so many times since Jenny’s crash.

  The town’s landmarks almost seemed a blur to him as he continued toward the spot she had died. Pausing at the last light in town before getting to the two-lane highway were the crash occurred, he looked at the flower on the seat next to him.

  “What?” Jeremy said to himself.

  Edges of the yellow flower and some of the leaves had turned brown in the short time since he left the house. He was sure he was careful with it. The wet towel should have kept it moist enough to easily last the trip, he thought.

  A loud horn blasted from the car behind him. Looking up, he realized the light was green. Not wanting any trouble, he made his turn onto the highway and continued a few miles out of town.

  His hands gently trembled as the curve came into view. Approaching the curve, he once again eased his car to the shoulder. After turning the car off, he reached for the yellow flower, but his hand froze a few inches away from it. The flower and leaves were even browner, with only a slight hint left of the yellow in the petals.

  “No!” he said

  Reaching quickly for the bag, he carefully held it and turned to open the car door. As he began pushing the door outward a blast from a truck horn caused him to quickly pull it back as the truck sped by the car. His heart raced and he remained motionless for several seconds before carefully checking his mirror before exiting the car.

  As he reached the embankment, the close call with the truck faded from his mind. The cross was now before him. His eyes focused on the cross as he walked down the embankment. Upon reaching the cross, he lifted the wrapped flower from his side. His grip loosened from the bag when he saw the flower was the same dark soot color as the rose he left the day before. Unable to believe what he saw, he could not stop the wrapped flower from falling to the ground. It shattered into a dark gray cloud when it contacted the cleared ground in front of the cross. A few blacken sections remained, but it no longer bore any resemblance to the yellow rose he found on the kitchen counter.

  Jeremy stood silent staring at the remains of the rose on the ground. Slowly lifting his head slightly, his gaze shifted to the wooden cross. Looking at it closer, the color of the cross appeared to be a more weathered gray than he remembered. Though he had not noticed the color detail too much on prior visits, it seemed to have changed since the day before. As he focused on a crack near the cross, a shadow in the nearby trees seemed to shift. Puzzled, he looked towards the woods several yards behind the cross. He could see the shadow, but it no longer moved. Had something moved in the woods or were his eyes playing tricks on him? With a deep breath and a slow shake of his head, he realized he did not know the answer. He was curious why he seemed to be seeing moving shadows.

  Though he had not even talked with Jenny yet, the destruction of the rose before his eyes had shaken him enough that he was almost ready to leave. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  “Jenny, I don’t understand what is going on here. I miss you so much,” he said aloud with his eyes still closed.

  Only the gentle sound of a light breeze could be heard. He slowly turned toward the car and made his way up the embankment. Remembering to look both ways before entering the road, he walked around the car to get into the driver’s seat. Once the car was restarted, he carefully pulled out into the road and turned the car around to head back toward town.

  He unlocked the back door when he returned home and entered the hallway near the kitchen. After shutting the door behind him, he stood motionless for a moment and stared toward the kitchen.

  “What is going on?” he mumbled aloud, gently shaking his head.

  He exhaled slowly and looked toward the kitchen with more focus. Something caught his eye on the counter. His jaw slackened as he slowly realized what it was. Another yellow rose. He cautiously walked toward the counter to get a closer view of it. The sunlight from the kitchen window illuminated the flower in a way that made him feel calm.

  “I’ve got to try this again,” he said to himself.

  Jeremy once again prepared the flower with the same towel he had used to keep the other damp. Placing the flower in the same plastic bag was the next step he took before carefully heading back to the garage. Upon reaching the back door, he twisted and pulled on the knob to open the door. The knob quickly slipped out of his hand and the door slammed shut. Shocked, he jumped back and stared at the door, with his ears ringing from the loud noise. He was determined to take the rose, so he grasped the knob firmly then twisted and pulled it once again. The force needed to open it was much more than usual, but he kept pulling with as much strength as he could with the one available hand. He finally was able to open it and get into the garage.

  He got into the car and placed the flower on the passenger seat once again. After starting the car, he looked in his rear view mirror before backing out. Though it was mid-day, it seemed dark. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that only one area behind his car appeared darker. It was directly behind his car and appeared to be a form of some type. Puzzled, he turned his head to look through the rear window. He could not see any dark form. Continuing to look for a few more seconds, he eventually looked back into the mirror. The dark form was still there. Assuming it was just something wrong with the mirror he put the car in reverse and started backing out of the garage.

  A sensation of nausea came over him after he backed up about ten feet. Feeling lightheaded, he applied the brake and took a deep breath. He did not know what was happening. Feeling sick, he put the car into park again, and waited to see if the sensation would pass. After about a minute, it did.

  He put the car into reverse again and continued backing out of the driveway. He began driving through the town again. When he reached a red light, he looked over at the rose next to him. The yellow petals were starting to turn brown.

  “How is this happening?” he asked aloud as he stared at the flower.

  He continued to stare at it. After about several seconds had past, a loud honk came from the car behind him. Upon looking up, he realized the light was green. Though the highway with the marker was straight ahead, he turned right down a neighborhood side street.

  He pulled his car off to the curb and stared back at the rose. While the edges of the petals were still brown, for some reason they did not appear to be getting any worse. Since he had seen the same thing happen before, he was not sure what to do. How could he keep the flowers fresh to get them to the marker? He could not answer the question. Tired of watching the flowers continue to die, he decided he would just drive home to see if he could make sense of what was happening. He carefully pulled away from the curb and drove back to his house.

  After he drove the car into the garage and shut it off, he turned to retrieve the flow
er next to him. Something seemed different about it, but in the darkness of the garage, he could not see what it was. He carefully picked it up and exited the car.

  As he entered the hallway near the kitchen, there was more light available. He looked down at the flower. He was very surprised to see that no more brown near the edges of the petals. Wanting to confirm this, he walked toward the kitchen window. Sure enough the petals were now a vibrant yellow without a trace of brown.

  “Damn!” he said to himself.

  Wanting to preserve the precious flower, he carefully set it on the counter and looked around for a vase he could use. After finding one in a cupboard, he filled it with water and placed the flower into it. He set it in the middle of the counter and took a step back to gaze at it. His mind was racing, since he was confused as to what was happening, but for some reason he also felt happy.

  Still unsure what he was feeling, he decided to place his keys in his bedroom. So he left the kitchen and made his way to the bedroom upstairs. As he pulled the drawer from the dresser to drop his keys, he noticed the photo was face down on top of it. He saw a layer of dust on the back of the frame, since it had been facing down a long time. With the keys in the drawer, he reached for the