Until Death Do Us Part
Written by: Margaret
Henry sensed that something was wrong as soon as he opened the front door.
Something was different.
“Elizabeth, “ he called out. “I’m home.”
Silence.
The house felt cold. The homely smell of cooking didn’t greet him.
Dropping his briefcase to the floor and his keys onto the hall table, Henry paused apprehensively before stepping into the sitting room.
The room looked exactly as it had that morning. The used coffee cups from breakfast were still on the table amidst scattered newspapers.
Tentatively taking the stairs up to their bedroom, Henry’s quiet voice called out once more, “Elizabeth, are you upstairs?”
The bedroom door was wide open. Henry’s eyes flew to the open wardrobe as he entered the room. Nothing but empty hangers hung on her side. All her clothes were gone.
A cold sweat broke out all over his body, as the fear he had been carrying for some time materialized before his eyes.
Dropping himself onto the unmade bed, his head falling into his hands, Henry’s body began to shake, as irrepressible sobs shattered the silence of their home.
He then saw it.
It lay there – alone. Looking lost, neglected – unwanted.
Lifting his head, Henry’s eyes fell on his reflection gazing back at him in the bedroom mirror. The truth hit him as he glared at his own wretched self.
Prising his own ring from his left hand, Henry placed it beside his wife’s wedding ring – the band of gold he had lovingly placed on her finger so many years ago.
Her ring no longer looked lonely.
Staggering from the house in a daze, the front door left wide open, Henry stumbled, as he began to run…run…run.
“To have and to hold, for better and for worse, until death do us part.” Henry’s muttered words were lost in the piercing screech of the train brakes and horn.