A Story A Day. Story 109 of 365: Rose.

"The first day I saw her I felt rejuvenated. She looked so young, so energetic, so happy. My old bones forgot their true age, my heart raced as it hadn't done in years. When she smiled the world became a better place. I am so old I never thought I could fall in love again, but there I was, giddy as a teenager, waiting for her to pass in front of my home, suffering if I hadn't seen her in days, wondering if she had left, if she had found someone else. I would stop her for a chat every time I saw her. She was nice to me, the way young people are nice to old people, never seeing I felt something else for her. I would see her coming and going, thin, athletic, all I used to be when I was her age, beautiful, above all. It hurt my old heart. 

I would invite her over for lunch, but she was always too busy, young people tend to be too busy for old people. I would spend the days alone with my thoughts, thinking about the way to tell her I loved her, hoping she would feel the same for me. I was a fool, there was no way she felt the same I did, she was sixty years younger than me, but I didn't want to give up. 

One day, I braved up and walked to her door. I awkwardly rang the doorbell, praying for her to be at home. She took long, but she finally opened the door. She smiled sleepily, and my heart skipped a beat. 

-Good morning!

-Good morning- she said, trying to avoid a yawn. 

-I was wondering,... would you like to come home this afternoon? At five?

-Sure. I'll be there. 

If I had not been lovestruck I would have seen she was saying it out of compromise, that she pitied me. I spent the rest of the day worrying about everything, planning every little detail, thinking it through over and over. Five minutes after five, the doorbell rand, I have never stood up as fast. I opened the door and there she was, freshly showered, her hair wet as if she were a siren who had just come out from the ocean. I invited her in and made her sit on the sofa, I walked to the kitchen and brought a box of cookies before sitting next to her. I was nervous and I started talking about my youth, going trough the same things over and over again. She listened politely, but I could see she was bored. So I took a desperate action and tried to kiss her. She pulled away from me and lost balance, falling from the sofa and hitting her head with the table. I heard a strange noise, and after it she was no longer breathing."

"It's okay, Rose. Everything is going to be okay." said the police officer trying to calm down the sweet old lady.