Lilies and Roses

It was yet another cold spring day. A tall young woman in a dark green overcoat strolled along the path of the rose garden which her husband had been keeping so dearly. It was a pleasing sight, the bloody red roses on a bed of dark green leaves. There was also a small patch of lilies behind the roses, but they were hardly noticeable because the tall rose bushes had obscured them. Lily walked along the small cobblestone path leading from the manor to the greenhouses. Her husband used to walk these very steps while carefully pruning his prized roses.

A maid came out of the manor and told Lily, "Madam, there is a phone call for you." She took the phone, and answered the call.

It was Annabelle, her mother-in-law, "Listen, this Saturday is Rod's one-month death anniversary, and I've scheduled a mass at the chapel, so I expect you to be there."

"Of course, I'll be there. But I'll be a little late. I have to do something about these overgrown roses in my garden first." Lily replied.

Annabelle wasn't happy, "Ask your gardener to tend them instead, for goodness' sake! It's your husband's death anniversary!" she burst out.

Lily let out a short cold laugh. "My husband didn't care much about me. He cared more for these roses. He would never have let just any gardener touch his beloved roses. I've wanted to get rid of these roses for a long time, and this Saturday is when I plan to do it."

"Well, all right, all right." the elderly woman knew there was nothing else she could do to convince Lily, "Just show up."

The phone call ended, and Lily began pondering over her life with Rod, the person who had been her husband for a short period of three months. It had never been a pleasant life. Rod never bothered about her or anything else. All he cared about were the roses, his roses. Rod never loved anything as much as he did his roses. They got married, but it was just a forced marriage and they didn't even love each other. Lily was the daughter of a rich entrepreneur, and Rod was the son of a wealthy politician.

Their short marriage of two months hadn't been fruitful either. For the whole time they were married, they stayed in separate rooms. Rod's room was near the east wing, where the gardens lay, while Lily's room was on the fourth floor. They only spoke to each other during mealtime, when they had dinner together on the veranda. But still, the only words were, "Please pass the salt." or sometimes, "Would you like some more potato salad?" Their relationship was only a bit more casual than business-like, but still it was far from the close relationship of a married couple.

"Carol?" Lily called to her maid, "Could you get me a pair of shears?"

After the maid handed her the tool, Lily snipped off the roses one by one. Why put off 'til Saturday what she could do now? With every stem that she broke and every thorn that fell on the damp soil, she felt as if a cold hard chain had dropped off her weary soul.

The lilies' white radiance shone through after every single rose had fallen onto the ground. Lily felt a new sense of freedom, as if she was relieved of a heavy burden. Letting out a deep breath that she had been unknowingly holding, she walked into the house.

Picking up the phone on her way to the kitchen, Lily dialed her mother-in-law's number. "Annabelle? I'm going to Hawaii this weekend. I can't go to his death anniversary."