Morning came with the sounds of chirping coming from the birds who rested on the fence outside a two-story home that belonged to a farmer that carried the name Samuel. The gentle rays of the sunlight illuminated his spacious bedroom and bed; with sheets made out of fur, and on them sat up the farmer, ready to start another day of his work. Today was the first day of the summer, which meant that his friend, Rosemary, would visit. She truly was the sunshine in his rather monotonne life that consisted of taking care of his crops and garden, that Rosemary insisted on making; her reason being, "Because It'll look so nice."
Putting on his long-sleeved shirt, blue overalls, black boots and straw hat, he left his bedroom and went downstairs to make himself some breakfast, consisting of simple milk and bread. Once he finished his meal, he could hear a knock on the door; going to open it revealed Rosemary, her ginger hair flowing behind her in waves and reaching her lower back, framing her freckled face with a pair of amber eyes. I would seem that she was paler than before, but Samuel knew better than to mention it. She was adorned with beautiful white dress with colorful flowers sewn onto it, complimenting her slim body and fair skin, and on her feet she wore simple brown shoes with simple white knee-socks. She smiled upon seeing Samuel, who smiled back and said, "You look stunning today, Rosemary."
"Thank you, Samuel." she replied, and he stepped to the side to let her in. As soon as she stepped inside, Samuel closes the door behind her and followed her into the living room, equipped with many bookcases by the walls, filled with books thick and thin of numerous kind, pair of sofas resting by the single window in this room and a small wooden table in between them. Rosemary sat on one of them, placing her slim hands onto her knees and looked at Samuel. "Maybe some tea would suffice for both of us, no?" She asked, and Samuel nodded, walking over to the kitchen to prepare it. After a while he came back with two cups of tea for the both of them, giving Rosemary her favorite mint tea. "How is your wheat looking?" Rosemary asked after taking a sip of her tea.
"Well," Samuel started off with a sigh, "Nothing changed really, the same good old quality. I also take care of the garden by the house as you told me to." Rosemary gave him a warm smile, placing her cup down onto the table and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. "I'm very glad to hear that you take care of our garden, I have heard that some of the beautiful flowers are going to bloom pretty soon. Do you remember how we began cultivating this garden?" Samuel thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, you were so insistent of growing the most beautiful garden possible here, even though I didn't really need one." Rosemary giggled and sat back against the sofa. "Yes, well, I'm just glad that it is growing beautifully. We have worked hard to create something that looks as pretty as it does."
Rosemary sighed deeply, then, looking down at her lap, then turned to Samuel with an unfocused gaze, a slight smile gracing her lips. "Do you remember how we have met?" Samuel did remember; he remembered that fateful day clearly. He was eight years old when his parents enrolled him into a private school where he met her, a girl with ginger hair and amber eyes. At first, he was surprised that she would take intrest in talking to him, let alone asking to be friends with him, but in time she managed to break his icy-cold exterior, and the two became close friends, and Samuel considered her to be the only person he could confide in and feel safe around.
However he would drop out of the school when he leaned of his parents death and had to take care of his then inherited land; and he lost contact with Rosemary, until a month later by some miracle she found his address and has been visiting him monthly since.
"How could I forget," Samuel finally replied, a smile growing on his face at the thought. "I will always cherish those days." Rosemary nodded, then her expression shifted to a more saddened one as she said: "Samuel, you must know that I am very weak." Samuel frowned; he didn't know why she said that. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Rosemary started off hesitantly, "I'm terminally sick, I only have around day left, doctors said it was a miracle that I could still walk and talk to you." Samuel's eyes widened, and his face started to contort to a shocked expression before he could control himself, and his eyes well up with tears as his hands trembled on his cup. Rosemary, being the angel as she was, took his trembling hand into her own, gently squeezing it in a reassuring manner. "Samuel, please don't cry, I have lived a full life and I enjoyed every time spen with you, you gave me strength and happiness during this long time." Samuel nodded his head and placed his cup down on the table, looking at Rosemary's pale hand in her own. "Rosemary, please don't go."
"I have lived a short, but young life," she began, a single tear rolling down her cheek, "And it has been a beautiful life, and I'm happy that you were able to spend it with me." Samuel shook his head, and said, "No, no no no no no no!" More tears started to form in his eyes as his heart ached. "I want to spend more time with you!"
Rosemary gave him a warm smile and closed her eyes, then she began coughing and Samuel panicked. "Rosemary!" He said as he jumped off the sofa and went to her side, placing his hands on her shoulders to try and help her through it. She grabbed hold of his hands, squeezing them to the point of making Samuel's hands go numb, then her coughing died down, leaving her panting. Samuel sat down beside her as he carefully removed her hands from his, then held them with both of his as he gazed into her tired, but caring, eyes. "Could you take me to your bedroom?" Samuel nodded, standing up with her and supporting her until they reached the room, then carefully laid her onto his bed. His bedroom was a spacious room, with nostalgia inducing bookcases built into the walls and a desk by a window that looked over to his fields and had a double bed, his bed that he slept on every night and now it was the last bed Rosemary would lay on. She looked up at him, weak, but still holding that warm, caring smile that always melted Samuel's heart, and spoke: "You must remember to water our beautiful garden."
Samuel sat down on his bed as he looked at Rosemary in a pleading manner as tears streamed down his face, holding in sobs that were desperate to escape his throat, and he closed his eyes tight. "I feel like I can't do it without you." He cried, then he opened his eyes to look back at Rosemary, who was still smiling warmly, "Just look after it for me, you'll do just fine. I'll be watching you."
Samuel sniffled, then he nodded his head and hugged Rosemary. "I'll try." He whispered into her ear. After a while they separated and she smiled at him, though it was noticeably weaker than before, then closed her eyes and soon, the life in her was gone.
That day the rain fell down like rivers down the fields and the flowers in the garden bloomed with color.
And on a warm summer morning a farmer grieved over his loss.
***
It has been a year since Rosemary's passing, that day her relatives came by to take her body and bury it in a place near her home, Samuel buried her flowers there, then went back to work. There was an emptiness in his heart and soul, a void that wouldn't fill and only ached, it was unbearable, yet he still went on with his work, and every day in his home was silent one since then, as if the house lost it's second occupant, only the birds kept him company as they sung their songs outside of his window.
It hurt each time Samuel entered his bedroom, always reminding him of that morning he laid Rosemary down onto his bed, and her words about the garden echoing in his mind, "Just look after it for me, you'll do just fine."
Even with emptiness in his heart, he took care of the garden everyday, watering it and watching over it as if it was the remaining part of Rosemary; watering it during the summer, preparing it for winter with cold weather blankets. It was filled with flowers of many colors and sized, separated by a small path in between them and the garden was surrounded by a tall, wooden fence.
Then, the first day of the summer welcomed the lone farmer with the gentle sun peeking through the clouds, illuminating his fields in a warm orange light. It was still early in the morning, the breeze caressed the wheat surrounding the farmer who stood in the field as if they were waves, swaying and moving. He has been compelled by some unknown force, a feeling in his empty heart to visit the field early in the morning, and that was where he was now standing.
Looking around him, Samuel could not see anything that was out of the ordinary, he sighed and turned around to head back to his home, however, when he did so, he noticed something that was in the corner of his eye. There, in the middle of his field, there was a person, who wore a familiar white dress with colorful flowers sewn onto it accompanied by simple brown shoes with white knee-socks, and on top of her head rested a wide-brimmed straw hat; ginger hair flowing behind them in waves and reaching their lower back, amber eyes focused on him as they smiled warmly. Samuel's heart ached in his chest and tears started to form in his eyes as he was overwhelmed by a feeling of joy and sadness at the same time; perhaps it was an hallucination or a dream, yet when he blinked, she was still there, smiling at him.
Rosemary, but a bit transparent and lacking her vibrant aura that Samuel has grown accustomed to in all of their time spent together, stood right before him with a warm smile on her face; as if she was alive and healthy, and Samuel broke out into a run to her and enveloped her in a hug as tears streamed down his face: "Rosemary," he cried in a low voice as he squeezed her in his arms, then, she returned the gesture by hugging him back with a warm smile on her face; placing her slender hands on his back, then resting her head onto his shoulder. Samuel's tears wouldn't stop coming down his face nor did his embrace loosen. "Rosemary," he repeated again in a louder voice.
"It has been too long," she began with a chuckle, "How are you?" Samuel nodded his head, then looked up into her amber eyes with his sky blue ones: "Yes," he replied, "It has been a while, I-I missed you so much... h-how are you here? Why are you...translucent?" Rosemary giggled, then moved her arms from Samuel's back and placed her hands onto his cheeks to wipe away his tears: "Because," she answered as she looked down at her transparent hands, then looked back into his eyes: "I am no longer human."
Samuel frowned as more tears formed in his eyes, then she continued: "I became a ghost after my death, and because I loved you so much, I decided to come back to be with you." Samuel sniffled, then wrapped his hands around Rosemary once again, and rested his head onto her shoulder: "Why?" Rosemary chuckled again, then rubbed his back in a comforting manner, then looked down on him, a warm smile still plastered onto her face.