Ukelele

Jarold strummed the strings of his guitar slowly, feeling the still warm fall air against his face. Next to him sat Caroline, his wife of fifty-six years leaned into his body, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the comfort of his warmth and the sounds of his music as the elderly couple sat in the back of their car. It was as close to paradise as the two had been in quite some time, and was the happiest that Jarold could remember being in years. Just him and his soulmate.

Jarold was suffering from Aphasia, an illness that made him forget how to say words. Jarold rarely spoke now, and when he did it was a struggle, but one thing that this nightmarish disease hadn't done was take his ability to move or play his beloved guitar. But being able to play guitar didn't make up for not being able to figure out how to go to the bathroom, or how to eat and drink. Jarold's body was shutting down and despite his outward healthy appearance his doctors had given him only a year to live. So, despite it having taken him many months of said year and with truly hard work and planning (and remembering that he was planning), Jarold and his son Henry had managed to put together one last perfect date for Caroline. Being childfree, their son and his wife Laura had taken the time to drive them out into the countryside to a scenic overlook and had left the two to their own devices. Henry and Laura were still nearby, of course and enjoying some alone time themselves, but for now, in this moment, it was all about Jarold and Caroline.

Jarold couldn't remember the words to Caroline's favorite song, but he still knew the notes. After a somewhat clumsy dinner underneath the decorative Christmas lights and the setting sun, Jarold had pulled out his guitar and began playing. In his life before he'd been assaulted by the diseases Jarold had been known for his fantastic guitar skills and wonderful singing voice. Never enough to become some famous artist, but it was just a natural skill he'd honed over a long, long life. And it was a skill that had led him to Caroline and a skill that had kept their romance going through many rough years and hard times. This was another rough time, the roughest, hardest of them all and it was clear that there wasn't much time left for the old man.

"Oh honey, this is just wonderful!" Caroline whispered as she gazed out upon the spectacular colors of twilight as they filled the valley below them, "We should have done this ages ago..."

Jarold silently agreed, trying not to let himself get overwhelmed and mess up his concentration. He might have still been able to play, but it was still quite the struggle to remember the notes, the positions of his fingers and to make them move right. He was determined to make this night perfect. And suddenly the words came to him, like the clouds parting. His voice was rich and sweet, almost as if it had been pulled from the past before age and disease had wracked his body.

"Oh it's such a beautiful night ohh, we're underneath a thousand shinging stars. Isn't it nice to find ourselves somewhere different oh, why do we let ourselves just be whoever we are. Look at this place, look at your face, I've never seen you look like this before..."

The words trailed off as the fog returned to Jarold's brain like the bank that was silently rolling across the valley as the sun dipped lower and lower. His fingers went still and the finally notes of the song trailed off into the approaching dusk as suddenly his fingers refused to listen. He grunted in frustration and gave a long, sad look at Caroline, whose eyes were filling with tears.

"Why don't you let yourself just be someone different, whoa...Why don't you let yourself just be whoever you are..." She finished, reaching up to kiss him, "I love you so much, honey. I wish you could use your gift more and that we just had more time...

But then something strange happened. Right as the elderly couple kissed, a bright light shot across the darkening heavens. It was a shooting star, but it was more than just a burning lump of rock, and it had heard the loving duet between the two old lovers, and it had heard Caroline's wish. It flashed through the twilight sky and dispersed the magic within it's form down to the Earth below, and vanished back to the darkness between worlds as the fragile human reality began to change. In the back of his son's SUV, Jarold yawned loudly, and then pitched over backwards, illiciting an alarmed shout from Caroline, which quickly turned into a loud yawn of her own as she, too, fell backwards, her eyus closing as the bright light of a shooting star was the last thing she saw...

Janice opened her eyes and sucked in a deep lungful of air, smelling the delicious campfirecooked meat that was cooling next to her. She opened her large brown eyes and lifted her young body up off the large quilt that she had been laying on, grinning with her wide, red lips as she watched her boyfriend, Carl, grab two beers from the cooler they had brought with them to this delightful little getaway.

"Mmm, thanks babe" She purred, taking the ice cold bottle in her slender fingers as her love handed it to her. They'd only been dating a few months, the two of them were still in college, but it seemed like love at first sight. The two of them were in the prime of their youth, Janice was an aspiring musician and at Whitewood University to learn how to become a doctor, while Carl was studying architecture. They'd met when Janice had been playing a song that she'd known since her childhood on her beloved guitar, and it had caught Carl's ear. She'd finished the song and the two had started up a conversation, which had led to a date...Which had led to this romantic weekend vacation. Janice had a feeling that Carl was going to do something big and dramatically romantic, it was too well planned and she knew her man, but she was willing to play along. She brushed her curly black hair out of her eyes, took a drink of the ice cold beer, and reached for her guitar as Carl joined her on the quilt, his body pressing against her back in a way that made her shiver with delight.

"Play our song again, babe" Carl whispered in her ear, and Janice giggled before beginning the familiar tune.

"Oh it's such a beautiful night ohh, we're underneath a thousand shinging stars. It's so nice to find ourselves somewhere different ohhh, why don't we let ourselves just be whoever we are..." Janice finished, and the young couple embraced with a long, passionate kiss that soon became something far more passionate. It wasn't long before the two were wrapped in nothing but the quilt, the beer and guitar long forgotten and Janice stroked Carl's cheek as she pictured the two of them together until they were old, and surrounded by a large family that she couldn't wait to begin with him. 

They were after all, soulmates.