you can sit beside me when the world comes down.

every waking moment of every day away from her he feels his heart sinking, missing, longing. he knows not the ways of the big, bad world and too far from home terrifies him so, yet he is willing to adventure far just to be with her for a moment. a simple moment is all he needs to reassure himself that she hasn't gone off and found someone more worthy than he, to hold her in his arms and forget the rest of the world exists, to rest more easily knowing that she is safe from harm's way. he counts the days. 13, 5, 29. she just might be driving him crazy. he's never been one for staying at home and waiting for the simplest things until now, she has him begging for some sign of anything. he worries too much. he knows that she'll manage somehow, but he still worries that something will happen. 

an old woman nears 95. she feels alone in a foreign land even though she's lived there for at least 70years. she can't remember most of it. all she remembers clearly is the life on the rice fields back in japan. the place where she could actually talk to everyone without having to rack her brain for the funny-sounding English words. she forgets that her husband is long gone, her children are all grown up and nearing retirement, and one of her grandchildren is finally getting married. all that matters is getting off her feet. every step she takes brings her a step closer to giving up. she's still young, that's all she remembers. so why do her feet hurt her so? why are they covered in all sorts of corns and bunions? her children talk about walkers and scooters and even a wheelchair. "but I'm too young for that" she protests, her countryside Japanese a cry for help. they are all insane to her, they think she needs all these things, she just needs her feet to stop hurting. then she remembers it all for a brief moment and laughs. how could she forget so much? inside, she's crying, wishing that it doesn't all go away again. she doesn't know that they're all saying that they don't know how much more she has left in her. 

<3 <3