Resting on a bench,
They peer at the twilight–painted sky,
The misty meadow quilted in melted snow.
Red lavender leaves scatters,
Whispers of farewell—showering upon the lovers,
Finishing off autumn,
Ushering in the breath of cold winter.
Surrendering to the labyrinth of their thoughts,
Unwilling to loosen their hold,
They soak up one other as though,
Wishing to bear a rarer,
Sparser ache in the hearts in their absence.
The heavens looks through the lake,
Adorning a brush up with the dazzling, divine gold rippling.
Milky pearl swans flutters their saturated wings,
Icy water teasing faintly.
Neva murmurs wistfull of the one dusk,
Destiny amusing them,
The start of such fall they met.
"When are you leaving?" her voice is barely a whisper, her head resting on Rhett's shoulder.
"In the morning," Rhett's mellow voice ripples across the water meadow.
"I'll look forward celebrating Christmas with you, Angel," he murmurs, pressing a kiss into her soft hair.
"I will too," Neva says, smiling up at him—earning a slow, romantic kiss on her lips.
All around them, tiny dewdrops begin to gather, sprinkling the earth like tiny lanterns,
forewarning of the chill closing in.
"Let's go home," Neva says sweetly, brushing his cheek with a kiss before rising and offering her hand.
Rhett takes it gladly.
Every second with her feels like a spell—
a sacred stillness between seasons.
Tomorrow, he would leave.
And for the first time, they'd be apart.
And they dread this first seperation.
But they were both courageous enough to let go.
Brave enough to believe in the strength of what they shared.
And to pray it would bring them back together—sooner than the cold winds might suggest.
---
Before dawn, when the moon still lingered faint and hazy in the sky,
Rhett, with reluctance and resolve, tore himself away from her warmth.
The country called.
And he had to go.
But his heart stayed with Neva—tucked inside every whispered prayer, every promise that this was only the beginning
of something holy, something enduring,
something worth returning to.