AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dearest Bird,
Thank you for the gift of your beautiful spirit in my life, for your wisdom, your vision, for sharing your dreams. You are so much further ahead than most of us. There’s only one thing I can say. Keep being you. The world needs you.
I love you, Bird! Always. Never forget. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you in the next life.
Love Marnie
I fold it up to keep with me – Marnie’s reminder of what matters; that everything in this world is part of a cycle. The days,the seasons, the passing of time; even our lives. Like the darkest winter, death is an intrinsic part of that.
In the last weeks before I leave for Uganda, it feels timely that the last of the leaves fall; so starts another winter. It’s a time to retreat. To just sit, to be at one with autumn’s decay, then as the landscape is dusted with frost. Knowing when the time is right, the green shoots of spring will start emerging through the earth, followed by soft-petalled flowers. The first swallows arriving on the wind; the first warm days reminding us that there will be another summer.
As it always does, life goes on.
EPILOGUE
In the seasons of our lives, everything passes, the darkness of the night lightening to a beautiful autumnal morning, the ground carpeted with glittering golden leaves, the finest layer of mist above which the sun shimmers.
Across the garden, Billy is waiting for me, his face illuminated with light. As his arms fold around me, I’m overwhelmed by a feeling of total bliss.
‘You found me,’ I whisper, finally working it out. ‘In the past… And in this life… You were here when I most needed you. You know that, don’t you?’ I can see from his eyes he understands.
‘Lori,’ he whispers, leaning his forehead against mine. ‘About that promise I made you…’
‘Which one?’ I tease.
‘You can’t have forgotten.’ He lets go of me, and his eyes are gleaming. ‘Remember? I said I’d take you flying again?’
‘Ah. You promised Marnie.’
‘Marnie – Lori – does it matter? You’re you – and it was still a promise.’ As he gazes at me, it’s as though my heart will burst. ‘Ready?’
Taking his hand, I feel lighter, freer than I ever have as he leads me towards the little red biplane that’s glistening in the early morning sun.
In no time, I’m sitting in the cockpit, Billy behind me. On the grass around us, millions of tiny flowers are opening, filling the air with their glorious scent. I don’t know where we are – but it doesn’t matter. I listen to the familiar sound of the engine as we start to roll along the grass before the tail lifts, looking down with wonder as the ground beneath us fades into the mist.
As Billy’s hand reaches forward from behind me, I take it, feeling my heart soar as we leave this world behind, the next chapter ahead of us, whatever that may be… Just as we were always meant to.
Together.
MORE FROM DEBBIE HOWELLS
We hope you enjoyed readingThe Last Days of You and Me. If you did,please leave a review. If you’d like to gift a copy, this book is available to purchase in paperback, hardback, large print and audio.
Time to Take a Chance, another emotional and life-affirming read from Debbie Howells, is available to buy now by clicking on the image below. Or read on for an exclusive extract…
Prologue
I remember distinctly that crisp December day and how an early fall of snow brightened the greyness, crunching underfoot as we walked slowly from the car park. That day my life changed forever… Oddly, I felt elated when they told me. At last I understood those terribleheadaches, the mood swings and why, from time to time, my legs would collapse from under me, without any warning at all.
And now that all these doctors and consultants at last knew what was wrong with me, they could get on with fixing it – at least, that was what I thought, back then. But it doesn’t always follow. Particularly in the case of an aggressive tumour, like the one they’ve found, in my brain.
My euphoria had been short lived of course. I struggled to accept the truth. How could I possibly have a brain tumour? It had to be a mistake. My scan results had got muddled with someone else’s…
But there was no mistake. Life in all its fullness had dealt me a rogue card, and in the blink of an eye turned everything I’d ever known on its head. But there was no time to be wasted, I was told. No putting off the inevitable. Not if I wanted to live… And so Lizzie accompanied me to the hospital, the last thing I’d want to put her through, waiting outside as I went for my treatment – such a small figure as she sat there, such a heavy weight on her shoulders.
I’d never envisaged anything like this. But does anyone? The future’s always there in front of us, and even now, as I sit in my garden, I’m looking ahead. I catch myself thinking I’ll plant a clematis to tumble through the Albertine rose for next summer or maybe I’ll move that lilac, before it gets any bigger. There’s nothing to stop me doing it, of course. Life will go on without me… But it’ll be someone else who watches the vivid splash of purple amongst the tiny pale roses, or the lilac thrive in years to come because I moved it to where the soil is better drained.
It’s not that I’m giving up, but I can’t pretend any longer. The facts are there in front of me and through long wakeful nights, I’ve reached my own conclusions. I can’t deny what’s happening, my legs so weak I can barely walk, my balance worse than ever and those headaches… pain like I’ve never felt before, that refuses to go away. But I have to face the reality – that it’s all coming to an end.
