As Guilie Castrillo-Oriard tells us:
Love... Even the word sounds like a sigh. But is it a sigh of contentment—or of regret? If you've found it, the world shines in colors vivid. If you've lost it, life fades into grays and shadows. There's nothing quite as intense as falling in love. Or as the feeling of loss when it ends.
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BROKEN HEART
Elizabeth Fisher.
Your girl?
No.
Can you introduce us?
Can't; she's dead.
When did she die?
Two days ago, the same day I finished the painting. Now her parents want it for her funeral.
So young, such a shame. What killed her?
A broken heart.
Don't be so melodramatic. Truly, what killed her?
I told you, she died of a broken heart.
How?
Years ago, her fiancé, Jake, went off to war. She waited, kept her eye on the horizon for his return, but instead, she received a telegram.
The message of death?
No, the telegram claimed - he was missing behind enemy lines, presumed dead.
And?
Lizzy was certain he was alive. . She knew he would come home. Never doubted. Even hired detectives to find him after the war ended.
But she was wrong?
No. She was right. He'd survived.
I don't understand. She must’ve been over the moon. Oh, I see. He came back injured – a different man?
No, he came back a healthy man. Well, mostly. He was concussed and suffered memory loss. A young woman and her family rescued him; they hid him and healed him. After the war ended, he had nowhere to return to so he stayed with them. He fell in love.
Cruel turn of events for Lizzy.
Even more so when he finally regained his memory and came home. He walked in the front door with his wife and two kids in tow.
What did he say to Lizzy?
He didn't recognize her. He remembered his family home, his mom and pop, but nothing about the war or his engagement to Lizzy. I was finishing this painting when he’d arrived. Lizzy ran to him. Her happiness brimming at his return. He looked at her with confusion. Asked if she was his sister.
What did she do?
She wilted, like a dying flower. But for Jake, she smiled – told him she was a friend of the family. Said, "Welcome home, Jake. Congratulations on your marriage and lovely family." Then she walked out the front door.
Where'd she go?
To her parents' home. She died in her sleep that night.
A broken heart.
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