Her shoulders softened. Her head lowered slightly.
Her fingers remained on the gravestone as she finally spoke, her voice breaking into something delicate and almost childlike.
“Goodbye, Grandpa…”
Her voice barely carried beyond her lips, lost in the wind.
“I’m sure… we’ll meet again in my next life.”
Her lashes lowered as she pressed her palm more firmly against the stone, as if trying to hold on just a little longer.
“Thank you for uniting me with the love of my life.”
A faint, bittersweet smile flickered across her lips—barely there, but real.
“No one else understood… not a single person… how much I liked Elias. Not even him.”
Her lashes fluttered as she kept her gaze lowered.
“But you knew.”
Her shoulders trembled once.
“But you saw it… even when I never exactly told you.”
The wind moved gently through the cemetery, brushing against her hair as she continued in a quieter voice.
“You were the first to notice.”
Her breath shook faintly.
“Thank you for giving me the chance to love him…”
A pause.
“And now…”
Her hand slowly slid down the gravestone.
“You’re here… to witness the ending of it too.”
Her eyes lowered completely.
Her voice dropped into something even softer, almost disappearing into the wind.
“I’ll go back to where I belong now.”
For a moment, she stayed like that—kneeling, unmoving, as if the world had paused around her.
Then, slowly, she pushed herself upright.
Her fingers lingered on the stone for one last second before she let go.
She stood carefully, smoothing the fabric of her dress with trembling fingers.
She took one last look at the name carved into stone before taking a step back.
Then another.
