Time is a Thief

*I wrote this around a year after a friend passed away*

He sat by the earthen mound and gently placed his rose on top of it.

'He's really gone. How?'

His eyes were wide and lost as he looked at her pleadingly hoping for an answer that would make some sense out of the pain he had been feeling since he got the news nearly a week prior.

He had yet to be able to cry over the loss but he could feel it sneaking up and knew that soon, it would likely consume him completely. Perhaps he would drown in the sorrow and then maybe he too could be at peace.

He missed his friend. More of a brother really. The two had been through so much together. They had grown up together. Played together. Laughed and cried together. It seemed wrong that the world had stripped him of his best friend.

She placed a hand on his shoulder feeling the smooth velvet under it. The day was really too hot for a such jacket but when she had suggested he wear something else or even take it off he had been adamant. The black velvet jacket was the last thing his friend had bought him and he was determined to wear it.

'It was his time.' she said softly

His laugh seemed on the edge of hysteria as he replied.

'And just who gets to decided that?' he demanded angrily.

She knew there was no answer that could offer him comfort and so she sat with him in silence.

The rose had begun to wilt under the hot sun and he picked it up studying it intently.

'Which do you think has ravaged this flower more time? Or the sun?'

She shook her head unsure of what she should say. This was the first time in over an hour since his outburst that he seemed to remember she was still there.

'The heat from the sun, I suppose.'

He said nothing for a minute. Simply staring at the dark red bloom in his hand.

'This flower was beautiful.'

'It still is.' she told him gently.

He tossed it carelessly back onto the grave.

'No. Not nearly what it was before. It blossomed and thrived in the sun but now time has stolen it's beauty. Just like it stole my friend.'

The second part was barely a whisper and the tears that had been threatening to overwhelm him finally won out.