The sun comes up
I don't know how long we'd been driving for, not a word spoken between us since we got in the car and just left everything behind. At this time of night there wasn't much traffic, especially this far out of town. The only noise was the sound of the engines steady purr and the rumbling of tires against the tarmac. I didn't need to look over at her to know the tears still stained her cheeks, her heartache hung heavily in the air between us and I really didn't know how or if I could break it. The radio remained off as every song they seemed to play just reminded her more of the sadness and seemed to make it worse. Without any destination in mind we bundled into the car late that night and just drove, drove away from the memories, from the sadness that seemed to be clinging to every corner of the house and begun to suffocate us.
I was starting to feel my eyelids beginning to droop as my body begged for sleep, but there were more important things to deal with right now. I would rest when I knew she was okay, that she was able to smile again. I pulled over into a rest area that overlooked what appeared to be a field, facing the east. I left the headlights on as I finally switched the radio onto a soft jazz station. Climbing out of the car I stretched with a yawn, an odd tingling sensation started at the base of my tail which began to sway slowly. Walking around the car to her side I opened the door to a confused and somewhat annoyed looking stare. I leaned in and undid her seat buckle, she didn't complain or resist, just stared at me with those puffy red eyes that had lost a bit of their usual sparkle. There was only a token resistance as I pulled her from the car and to her feet, slowly walking around front and into the headlights. Her slight form trembled a bit from the cold early morning air, so it was only a natural reaction that I took her into my arms, pulling her head against my chest as I embraced her, sharing my warmth with the trembling form before me. I could still hear the soft music coming from inside the car, it just seemed natural to start to sway and move, beginning a slow dance of sorts in the headlights. Our silhouettes stretching across the field in a macabre sort of puppet show as we danced. We must have danced for what seemed like hours, all the while I could feel the tension slowly leave her body and the tears on my shirt beginning to dry.
It must have been later than I thought as the sun soon began to peek over the horizon, cutting the gloom with the first golden rays of a new day. Still we danced, not a word spoken between us but I could feel some of the tension finally leaving her, the soft sniffles almost abating finally. I leaned back to look down at her, finally a faint trace of a smile graced those soft lips again, lips which soon met mine in a tender kiss filled with love and compassion for the strong woman who was brave enough to share her pain with me.
"She's always watching over you, just look for the signs." I finally managed to mutter, receiving a confused look from her as I peered out across the field we had stumbled across. I slowly turned her around in my arms to see what I was seeing, I had not known this was here or that it even existed.
Before us lay a field of lillies, her mother's favourite flower.