Time is not a promise.

You live in my heart and my memories. You’ve been gone for years, yet your absence affects me the same with an emptiness and a longing to feel your parental embrace. I talk to you in those moments when I need a parent. My understanding has changed. Often in real life, I felt as if you failed to listen or answer me—but now I always hear your voice. It’s a whisper of the values and knowledge you instilled in me. The beauty of your unique love speaks to me from beyond the grave.

By Shari Marshall – 2023

Written in response to Carrot Ranch Literary Community 99-word challenge: write a story about beauty beyond the grave.