Asleep

He sighed, a long, deep sigh upon which she would've heard the years

and years of agony tearing at his soul had she been awake. He had

moved her bed out onto the veranda which led out to their lawn,

filled with lush verdant grass and bordered by willow trees which had

kept his vigil with him all this time. Slowly, his joints groaning

after thousands of hours of waiting, he rose to his feet from the

loveseat he had carved by hand, and with some effort made his way to

the edge of the clearing their oasis in the midst of the woods

occupied. He stooped, slowly, carefully, and picked a bachelor button

from the small flower bed he had nurtured as well for the last 50

years. They had always been her favorite. She had laughed when he

told her what they were called back when they were young, teasing him

as she remarked that had he been reincarnated as a plant rather than

a man, he still would have been a bachelor. He made his trek back to

the bench, recalling the rest of his younger days. He couldn't

remember the day they had met, but he remembered growing up next door

to her. The still cool spring days spent romping around the

neighborhood as day turned to night and back again. They would often

take a rest from their exploring to lie in the grass and gaze at the

stars. He had never been impressed by them, seeing as how they needed

to rest every night while people only needed one long rest their

whole lives, but she had insisted it was because they were always

playing hide-and-seek with the sun. He had laughed at that. And then

one day she was gone, and didn't come out to play anymore. His

parents told him she was asleep, and that she wouldn't wake up for a

long time and couldn't play until she woke up. They sat him down and

explained to him, as all parents did to their children, that during

everyone's life they 'fall asleep', and get all the rest they will

ever need their whole life. Sometimes people fell asleep when they

were older in their life, and never awoke from their sleep but

instead peacefully passed on in their sleep, having reached old age.

Other people fell asleep very early on in their lives, and so had

their whole life still ahead of them when they awoke, and that he

shouldn't be sad because this was what happened to her and most

people saw it as a blessing. And so he continued to grow without her,

until one day he returned from his schooling feeling very, very

tired, and sat down upon the living room couch as he felt his eyelids

grow curiously heavy. He had the strangest visions in which he was

reunited with her and they continued to play by sun and starlight

alike, until one day he realized he was opening his eyes and he sat

up. He had been startled to see himself in the mirror again looking

much older now that he was in his mid 20's. His father brought him up

to speed with everything that had happened the last 15 years: how he

and his mother had taken care of him and watched over him as all

parents do, a sacred vigil they had been preparing for his whole

life, and how his mother had passed a year prior to his awakening. He

grieved for his mother, and over the next few days asked his father

about what else had changed. He asked about her, and his father told

him she had awoken just a month ago, and had left her parents to make

her own way now that she was grown. When he had satisfied his

curiosity and come to terms with his new life, he resolved to set

out, a man grown, and make his fortune. It was a few years later when

he bumped into her on the street, and perchance heard her mention

that she was heading back to her hometown for the holidays which

happened to be where he was from as well. After a few questions and

surprising answers they both realized whom other was, and amazed at

the serendipity of life resolved to head back home together. The next

few years were a whirlwind for him, full of many memories of walks

through the changing leaves, days spent skating on the frozen pond in

their old neighborhood, ice cream on hot summer days and

conversations that lasted through entire nights as they laid together

again on the spring grass gazing, at the heavens. Yet even through

all of those halcyon hours, he still remembered above all else the

feeling of falling deeper and deeper in love each day until one day

he knew, that this was his purpose in life, to keep this flame lit

for all eternity. And so they married on a cool spring night beneath

the stars, and he remembered seeing her in her wedding dress, dark

but for the brilliant points of light which resembled the cosmos, and

knowing that a whole lifetime in heaven awaited him here on earth.

She whispered to him that all the excitement must be fatiguing her as

they said their vows, and he winked and whispered back that he felt

ready to run away with her for the rest of their lives. He saw her

her close her eyes and lean in as they kissed to seal their vows but

suddenly he caught her as she slipped and fell into his arms. The

doctors would tell him that though unusual, it seemed that she had

not finished her rest during her first sleep, and so had begun to

slumber again, although for how long noone could tell him. He waited

as weeks, and then months went by as she slept in her parents home

again, and when after a few years her parents passed found them a

home out in the woods like they had always talked about and moved her

with him. And so he waited. The years went by, and day and night he

watched over her and waited, wanting nothing more than for her to

awake so that they could start their adventure together with his

entire being. He watched as every morning his hair turned a little

grayer and his movements became a little slower, and all the while

the sand was falling through their hourglass. And still he waited. He

took to moving her bed outside during the spring so that they could

gaze at the stars together during his long watch, and even carved a

bench for them to share together from an old oak tree they had played

on as children when he learned it had fallen. And still he waited. He

placed the flower in her hands, its indigo bloom a beautiful match to

her now silver hair. He sat down upon the bench again and laid his

head by hers on the bed. He felt very tired; his excursion had

exhausted him. He thought the sensation oddly familiar, and as his

eyes closed a single tear left his eyes as he looked upon his wife's

face for the last time as he whispered "I'm sorry".

She opened her eyes. She sat up slowly; strangely she felt as if her

body was much slower now. She looked down and saw a beautiful indigo

bloom from a Bachelor Button in her hands, as well as an old man

resting against the bed, but even after all these years she still

recognized him.	As the starlight streamed down on the clearing she

began to realize, that she had been asleep again for a long, long

time. It is very unusual for someone to fall asleep twice; in fact,

it is almost unheard of, unless one is pushed to their absolute

limit. But she knew why, as she stroked his hair for the first time

in 50 years- his heart had simply burnt out during his long, long

vigil.