Companion

A drop of tear trickled down her face. The doctor informed her about the demise of her husband. He had been ill for a very long time and Emily knew that this would surely happen one day but wasn’t ready just yet and she never would be. She needed some time to process the bad news and went pale. She couldn’t think anymore, nothing made sense and her mind went numb.

They had been married for forty years and had shared a lovely time together. Emily informed her children about their father and they came back to their hometown in a jiffy. A small funeral amongst family members was held. Heroic tales of Richard were shared by his brothers, lovable by his wife Emily, and hilarious tales by his children about their childhood, how they would spend Sundays, about their vacations, and their birthday parties. In the end, everybody missed him so much and only prayed for his happiness and peace where ever he was.

It had been some time after Richard’s demise. The kids went back to their jobs and the relatives back to their homes and it was just Emily who was left alone. She missed her perfectly happy retirement life with Richard, she missed him terribly and hadn’t come to terms with his death. They had a stunning garden in front of their house and both Emily and Richard maintained it. Now, it just lay dead. Emily didn’t feel like doing anything, be it cooking for herself or perpetuate the garden, she felt lonely.

One day while just sitting on the porch, she noticed some activity near the gate. As she moved closer, she found a little puppy playing with a strand of grass. The little puppy looked up at Emily with his teeny-tiny eyes and wagged his tail. Emily kneeled down and petted the puppy and played with him for some time and then went back home. The next day, the puppy returned and stood on the porch this time, Emily wasn’t shocked, rather delighted to see him, and this time she brought food for the little guy. Time seemed to move faster while playing with the puppy. The puppy returned the next day as if he had developed a habit of playing with Emily in the evenings. This time Emily didn’t let him go, instead, she thought about adopting the little puppy. She thought about naming him Richie, after Richard.

Little Richie was one notorious puppy. Everything at the house seemed new to him and wanted to try his hand at everything. Emily would be exhausted by the evening by looking after him, but she had started to smile again. A few months went by and Richie grew a little bigger, he always had Emily by his side and couldn’t let her leave him. They strolled by the markets together, went to parks had their morning and evening walks together, and took care of each other. Richie reminded Emily of Richard and she felt that he was always near to her.

Once, Richie dragged Emily towards her garden and barked just at the sight of it. All the flowers and trees lay dead. Emily assumed it as a signal to start maintaining her garden once again, it was hard without Richard managing all the chores, but she gave her best shot. She brought new flowers for her garden and arranged them well. Slowly and steadily the garden was lovely again, Emily and Richie would spend hours just sitting on the porch gazing at the garden. It looked and felt serene. They both were a blessing in each other’s life and once again the flowers bloomed in the garden.