He was gentle as he laid her down.
The flowers, a mix of bright red Poppies and golden Brown-eyed Susans, made a lovely frame around her pale face and long, dark hair. His gloved hands brushed her hair to remove any bits of grass that might have been caught in it when he carried her here, then tugged the white cotton dress into place. A touch of ruby red lipstick for her cupid-bow lips, then a little on her cheekbones to give her some color, rubbed into a blush with his thumb. It added just the right touch.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin, then carefully opened it to reveal a plastic bag full of ashes. Whispering “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, he gently marked her forehead with the ashes. A sigh slipped from him as he took a minute to look her over. So innocent, so perfect – she looked like a sleeping doll, from the carefully folded hands to the neatly aligned feet.
He picked up a stick and used it to brush the flowers and grasses back into place as he backed down the slope and made his way over to where his car was parked. He tossed the stick onto the floor of the back seat, then settled behind the wheel before he pulled the gloves off and tucked them into a bag of trash on the seat.
He started the car and rolled along in the dark for a few yards before he turned the lights fully on and joined the highway traffic as it flowed by him. It was a shame she hadn’t worked out. He had had such high hopes for this one. Oh, well. Failures were bound to happen. He knew just where to go look for his next girlfriend. Eventually, he’d find the perfect one.
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