It’s been a long day in Lower Alabama. The den at Chez Lady Writer may be quiet but if you peer into the room at twilight you can make out the ChaRActers right where she left them: John Porter and NotLucas on the sofa, Guy of Gisborne in the LazyBoy, and Harry Kennedy standing at the window looking at the sky, right where he was the on the night a star fell.
They knew in their bones what it meant but none of them could bring themselves to speak and make it real.
Finally, Harry Kennedy cleared his throat. “Cup of tea, anyone?”
Guy grunted a negative but the other two just shook their heads.
“Are you sure you should go out there? We don’t want to intrude, yeah?” Porter asked. Harry shrugged.
“I suppose you’re right. Leave the family to it.”
Guy grunted again. NotLucas sighed heavily. “Something to add, Sir Guy?”
“We’re family. I mean, aren’t we? We’ve lived in her den for a decade, don’t we matter?”
“In the grand scheme no we don’t matter. You know that,” Porter said.
Harry chuckled softly. “We mattered to her.” His smile widened.
“Do you remember when we tried to take care of Mr. Lady Writer when he hurt his ankle?”
Porter smirked. “I’m amazed the poor man survived Guy’s tender care.”
Guy narrowed his eyes at him.
“Or the time her cats nearly castrated him?” NotLucas laughed.
Guy sniffed a manly sniff. “Or the time we all wore even more black than usual to right your ridiculous plot.”
NotLucas laughed out loud. “She said the writing drove her crazy, she just couldn’t bear it –“
“She loved you,” Guy interrupted. “She loved all of us.”
The shadows lengthened into dusk. Porter cleared his throat. “One of us should say something.”
Harry spoke up. “I don’t trust myself to speak extemporaneously but a few lines from a poem I read on her shelves seem fitting.” He took a deep breath.
“Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”
The ChaRActers stood together at the window and watched as the stars came out. A new one was glowing softly near the horizon. Guy turned to the others and found he was alone.
“Thank you for loving me into being,” he whispered and closed his eyes. In the next moment he stepped into a shadow, and joined the evening breeze.
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Though a newspaper obituary has not yet been published a notice has appeared. There is a Guestbook if you want to leave condolences for her husband and family.
FunkyBlueDandelion 
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