Flowers

Previously

…The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight painted the sky in soft hues of pink and gold, I was at the lake. In my hand, a single purple tulip. And beside it, a smooth, grey stone I had found on the shore. I placed the tulip and the stone, a new offering, a silent acknowledgment of a love that transcended even death. The ring was gone, but the love remained. It was a different kind of forever, a solitary bloom in the garden of my memory. And I would tend it, every single day, until my own time came to join the stars.