Night watch

They told her that he had washed out to sea on that stormy night
when the fishing boat sank, and that his body was never found.

In her heart she knew that he was still alive. Perhaps he had been found
far away, sailed around the world, gone on the adventures he had always
talked about.

So she waited for him. Stood at the shore every night searching for
the boat to bring him home. Years went by, and yet she waited.
Her body grew old and it was an effort to go out at night and wait
for him to come.

Then one evening they came for her. They said: Happy seventieth birthday
to you, and we have good news! He has been found….. he was washed ashore
on the mainland many days later. He did not remember anything, still does not
even know his name. He is in a home where others like him live,
and he is comfortable and well taken care of.

Come, they said, we will take you to him. No, she whispered. I want to remember
him as he was before... And now I am going home.

A neighbor found her the next morning lying in bed as if sleeping. A smile on
her face, her gnarled hands holding a picture of him as he was before close
to her heart.