✴ Damien ✴
The cemetery was silent except for the crunch of snow beneath my boots. The chilled air bit at my face as I walked between the rows of headstones, the white landscape dotted with dark granite markers. Wintervale's cemetery had always been peaceful, but today it felt heavier like the memories hanging in the air were pressing down on me. I stopped in front of her grave. My mother’s name was etched into the stone, her life summed up in two dates and a dash. Loving Wife & Mother. The sight of it still made my chest tighten, even after all these years. I knelt down, and brushed snow away from the base of the marker, revealing the small bouquet of flowers someone had left before. They were slightly wilted, a sad reminder of how much time had passed.
“Hi, Mom,” I murmured, my voice b
