Prompt for: Stories from the Jukebox
Prompt by: Theresa Greene
Prompt #47:There’s A Place, by The Beatles
The whispers started.
“This is supposed to be a support session for him. What is he doing?”
“He just suffered a major loss and he does this?
“What’s going on with him?”
”Is he ill?”
“He is sitting alone and looks…. happy.”
“He should be grieving.”
“He is so weird. Always has been. Always will be.”
The crowd were milling around in search of something to do in their collective grief and they had found it.
Byron was sitting on the dock looking out over the water, his mind focusing on the little details he could pick up on the opposite shoreline. “Will you look at that? A dock. All 40 feet of it hangs above the water, suspended by a wire. That is quite the engineering feat,” he said at it in wonder. “It must weigh quite a bit with all that aluminum.” He looked further down the shoreline at all the rock cliffs and rocks just at the surface of the water. “It’s such A Beautiful Day,” he said as he hummed along to the music he could hear in his head. Another voice joined his voice there singing in harmony.
“Um,” said a voice behind him. He looked up as his sister sat down gingerly beside him. “You okay Byron?”
Byron took a quick look at Janet before looking back down the lake. There were kayakers on a leisurely paddle. “Just sitting here enjoying the view.”
Janet kept her eyes on her brother. “Byron, Lee is gone,” she said quietly.
Byron nodded.
“Why are you here all by yourself? You need company to help you through this.”
Byron looked up at the sky before returning his gaze to the water. “No.”
Janet looked at him puzzled. “Byron, when we lose someone we need company to keep us from dwelling on it too much. It helps keep us focused.”
“No,” Byron repeated.
Janet was growing frustrated. “Why do you do this?”
“What is it that I do?” he replied calmly.
“I can see you are hurting inside. You have just suffered a devastating loss yet you sit here in solitude. Don’t you miss her? Don’t you need to grieve?”
Byron smiled and turned to Janet. “Would you agree that life is about living?”
Janet smiled. “You know I do.”
“And would you agree that memories are important?”
“Of course. Byron, what are you going on about?”
“I don’t feel sorrow or sadness. I feel comforted. She was always my happy place, my comfortable place, my quiet spot. She didn’t have to be there for those things to occur. She was just what I needed, the thoughts of her. Her warmth, her words, her love. She got it.” Byron could see Janet was not understanding. “Wherever I am, she is with me. I find that place where I know she would like and I sit in quiet comfort and enjoy all the times we had, all the things we did and all the conversations that are pertinent to that moment. They have always comforted me. That will continue.”
“So she is always with you. And you feel good about this?”
“Always and forever. I am so relaxed with my thoughts. Do I wish there could be more conversations, more things to do together? Of course, but we had a lifetime together. And now that is just enough. I don’t need to grieve by crying, being sorrowful or rueing her loss. I am content in the world we created together.”
“Okay,” said Janet. “I need a drink,” and with that she rose swiftly and walked off the dock.
“Well said,” said Lee quietly. “Well said,” as she laid her head on Byron’s shoulder just like old times.
Byron smiled as the warmth he felt since he sat down coursed through his body. “You always know what to say.”
Lovely, just lovely... 💖
I am glad that Byron's memories have brought him peace.