It was a cold Autumn morning when the birds outside my window began to sing their tune of merriment. It was the same tune I heard them sing for the past year. I slowly got out of my bed to open the blinds and let the dim sunshine enter my room, there was no electricity in this small log cabin so the sun was the only light source I had. After opening the blinds next to my bed I slowly sat back down on the edge of the old mattress, my leg had arthritis and too much movement, especially in the early mornings, made it unbelievably painful. After resting for a little while and enjoying the bluejays and robins early morning song I reached for my old wooden cane that I kept next to my bed.

        Every morning I started my old routine: I got up from the edge of the bed and headed to the wardrobe on the other side of the room, inside was about three dusty shirts and five pairs of pants. I put the cane next to a chair near the wardrobe and pulled off my pajama shirt and put on the dusty gray long sleeve shirt from the wardrobe. After putting my shirt and a new pair of slacks on I grab my cane once more and begin to head to the front door, once there I grab my old flat cap and trench coat and put them on as well.

     Today is Sunday and I will have to go back up the hill that resides next to my house. I walk outside to be greeted by the rising sun that just barely peeked over the towering mountain tops, it's light only lightly glazed the trees of the forest. When I was a boy I used to play in that forest, I would capture bugs and play in the river that cut through it. Most of my early childhood was spent there, the walk to town was about an hour long so I was not permitted to go there until I was about twelve years old. I always complained that I couldn't go and play with the other kids in town and had to find my own fun, but my mother was the only other person who lived in the house and she didn't want me to get lost on the way to town.

      A fleeting smile runs across my face from the memories as I turn to start going up the path that goes up the hill. It was very steep and even in my youth I would have troubles reaching its peak. The path was old and made primarily of dust with a little dirt as a foundation. The hill was  tall but the path that went up it often swirled around it making it almost a day's walk for me to get up there.  The dirt that surrounded the dusty path had flowers that bloomed almost all year, but their colors have long been gray for me.

I walked the path in silence, along the way I found little memories some happy some sad; a swing that I made when I was a kid, a rose bush I used to take roses to give to the girl in town, even some old arrows when I used to practice with my bow. All the memories were small ones but I remember hating to do all of them; I hated that I had to play on the swing all by myself, I loathed having to pick wild roses instead of getting to buy beautiful bouquets, I hated that I had to practice hunting with a bow instead of a rifle like the hunters in town. Every memory I laughed a little or smirked, sometimes I might even cry a little but I stopped dead when I saw the leaves of an oak tree that rested at the top of the hill.

The oak tree had my most precious memories of all, the day I met Sarah and the day I kept her. Under these green leaves now shaded red I met a young girl, around my age playing atop its branches when I was a young boy, maybe of eight years. From that day forward I met that girl every week at that tree until we both became adults; that is when I asked her to marry me, under the old oak tree where we first met. I cried a little when I saw that tree, but I then began to walk up the path once more until I could see what lied next to its base.

Next to the old tree's base was a gravestone; old,dust, and grey. It read   "Here lies Sarah a friend to most, family to few, and lover to one." The words were withered with age and the color of her stone was fading away, but I didn't need to read the words because I knew them all by heart.

"You know, you really are very stubborn, making me learn my lesson like this," I said aloud to Sarah, "It makes me wish I didn't complain to you as often as I did."

I kneeled down to the gravestone and wiped away some of the dust and grime that covered it. I stood up and walked under the shade of the oak tree and looked at the blazing orange sky through its leaves.

"But I did learn it, Sarah, I finally got the message you've been trying to tell me for years," my voice was shaky and  rasp, "And now I think I am ready to see you again dear, it's become a little too lonely down here for this old fool."

I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a rose from the bush on my walk up here, it had almost no thorns on it put it still bloomed with beauty.

"These always were your favorite gift even though you knew I just picked them from the bush on this very hill," I put the rose in front of her grave and lay down next to it, still under the shade of the tree, "Well, dear, I guess I will see you soon."

I slowly begin to close my eyes, a heavy feeling presses against my entire body yet my head feels light. The last light of the sunset hits my eyes right before I completely close them, And I could swear for all a lie that I saw Sarah before me, welcoming me to a new home with her.

"You know, you really are very stubborn, making me learn my lesson like this," I said aloud to Sarah, "It makes me wish I didn't complain to you as often as I did."

I kneeled down to the gravestone and wiped away some of the dust and grime that covered it. I stood up and walked under the shade of the oak tree and looked at the blazing orange sky through its leaves.

"But I did learn it, Sarah, I finally got the message you've been trying to tell me for years," my voice was shaky and  rasp, "And now I think I am ready to see you again dear, it's become a little too lonely down here for this old fool."

I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a rose from the bush on my walk up here, it had almost no thorns on it put it still bloomed with beauty.

"These always were your favorite gift even though you knew I just picked them from the bush on this very hill," I put the rose in front of her grave and lay down next to it, still under the shade of the tree, "Well, dear, I guess I will see you soon."

I slowly begin to close my eyes, a heavy feeling presses against my entire body yet my head feels light. The last light of the sunset hits my eyes right before I completely close them, And I could swear for all a lie that I saw Sarah before me, welcoming me to a new home with her.