"Lilac, there's someone at the door waiting for you." Mrs Iris, Lilac's mother said to her. Lilac's eyes lit up, and she jumped from her bed, but her mother was in time to stop her from running down the stairs. "It is not Gabriel, Lilac."
As she said that, Lilac went back to bed, and crawled under the duvet. Her mother took a deep breath and sat close to her.
"Aren't you going to see the friend at the door?" Mrs Iris asked her daughter.
"No, I don't want to see anyone, Mom." Lilac replied.
"It's been 5 months since we lost Gabriel. Why do you punish yourself like this? Is this what he would've wanted you to do? Why are you pushing everyone away?" Mrs Iris lamented.
"Gabriel is not dead, Mom. He'll come back to me. Y'all should stop saying he's dead." Lilac replied, and sniffled, trying to hold back the tears that were surging to leave her eyes.
Mrs Iris held her daughter close and hugged her. She felt sad seeing her in so much pain every time since Gabriel didn't return with his comrades from the war they had gone to fight. Every day, Lilac stood at her window, still waiting for him to show up, and give her a big warm smile like he always does. It was a painful sight to see, and Mrs Iris didn't know what else she could do to put her daughter's mind at ease. She had resulted to inviting Lilac's friends to come over, but Lilac has always refused to see any of them.
"Lilac, let's say that Gabriel is not dead..." Mrs Iris was speaking but Lilac cut her off.
"He's not dead!!!" She yelled and threw the duvet off her body. She ran into her closet, and sat there crying.
Mrs Iris looked to the bedside table, and picked the dog tag of her son-in-law, which was sent to her daughter when the soldiers returned from the war. She too was in doubt that Gabriel, who was so full of life would be dead. One minute he was standing at the doorway with smiles, promising to end the war and return to his beautiful wife, and the next minute, like the wind, he was gone. All that laughter, all the promise left behind, and now her daughter battles with reality; refusing to step out of the shadows of the past. Hearing Lilac's cries broke Mrs Iris heart. She too was in pain because she loved her son-in-law so dearly.
"Lilac, if Gabriel should return, he wouldn't be happy to see you like this. Please stop hurting yourself." Mrs Iris called out to Lilac, who still locked herself in the closet.
A year ago, Lilac and Gabriel got married, but two months after that, the army called on his department to help keep the peace between the two neighboring countries that were at war with each other. Lilac wasn't happy seeing her newly wedded husband pack a bag.
"Baby, can't they leave you out of this one? We just got married." Lilac complained.
"Sweetheart, they can't leave me out because I'm the chief commander of my department. My men need me, and we'll have plenty of time to ourselves when I return." Gabriel replied.
"We've barely enjoyed our honeymoon. I don't like this." Lilac nagged on. Gabriel put his arms around her, and kissed her warmly. He took off one of the bracelets on her wrist and wore it on his.
"For luck, and I need to keep you close." He said, and kissed his wife again.
After promising to be back, he carried his bag and left the room. Lilac followed him to the door, where some of his men were waiting.
"Y'all should keep him safe, or I'll skin all of you alive." Lilac said to them.
"Yes ma'am!" They called back a response, and laughed.
The last Lilac saw of her beloved was his huge smile as he kissed her goodbye. Seven months later, the bracelet and dog tag was returned to her, but no one knew for sure if Gabriel was dead or alive.
"How can you return without him? You were supposed to keep him save." Lilac cried and clung to the soldier's shirt.
"We've searched everywhere for his body, but all we saw were bloodstains, and his keepsakes." The soldier replied.
Since that day, Lilac had made it a habit to stand by the window side, hoping to see her beloved drive into the compound. But five months had passed and there was still no sign of Gabriel, and Lilac slowly became the shadow of herself.
She dreams of him every night, hears his voice every morning, but he was never there, and with the pain eating at her heart, Lilac wondered where her man had disappeared to.
