[ WP ] An old woman sits alone with a picture

She sat in his chair, feeling the emptiness that always seemed to worm it's way into her heart. This time, she felt, was different though. It was n't the same, ever present loneliness as years past but instead, a deep calming. 
 Things were never the same after Hugh had died. There was n't the sound of his records, repeating themselves over and over on the old record player, never skipping a beat. He always did take good care of his records, the woman thought. He would certainly have been upset to see them collecting dust in the corner of the living room. But she could never work up the will to play them. Too many memories. 
 She held in her hand the locket that he had given her the day he went to Okinawa. It was all she had to remember him by during the fighting during the war, so she treasured it like it were a piece of her heart. 
 In this sense, she felt it really was. Even now, though Hugh had passed on, she never really felt alone. She could always reach down into her shirt and take the locket, open it gently with her fragile, old hands, and reminisce about the man that was a part of her life as the rain is to a flower. 
 She caressed the locket, reaching out for her departed husband's loving embrace. She could almost hear him talking in his smooth, tranquil voice, `` Laura.'' `` It's alright, I am at peace now. You do n't have to worry about me.'' 
 `` I know.'' Laura whispered to herself. She picked herself up from her chair and walked over to the records. There was a record that he would always listen to, she thought to herself. It was then that she noticed that it was already in the record player. It was his favorite record, the same one that they played during the wedding as she walked down the aisle: Gymnopédie No.1. 
 She turned the player on, and marveled at how smooth it sounded, 5 years after his death. She wiped a tear from her eye and held the locket, holding with it the memories that he would always be there.
