Brave Grave

Chapter five

*WARNING* This chapter contains sensitive content dealing with depression and suicide. Please do not continue reading if you are sensitive to this type of content.

2010

It was a hot summer day in Trenton with a clear sky and a high of ninety-two degrees. A slight breeze blows through Sharon's long brown hair that was fading at the roots in grey. Sunglasses hid her eyes as she sips on a glass of white wine with her feet in dipped in the pool. Her crinkled toes that were painted pink peak out of the top of the water to feel the breeze.

From behind, her husband Richard, lets out a whistle as she lounges in her swimsuit. Richard is a tall and handsome man with olive skin and bright blue eyes. Once upon a time, he had a blonde shaved head with a baby smooth face when he served in the military. Now, his hair is salt and peppered with a nicely groomed beard to match. They have been married for almost fifty years and their love for each other never faded.

"Seventy-three never looked better." He says, kissing her on the cheek and joining her by the poolside.

"You're not so bad yourself." Sharon replies with a smile. Richard grabs her hand and intertwines their fingers together while gently caressing the top with his thumb.

"It is so nice out." He replies, looking out into the distance at their view of the garden.

"Yeah, it is." Sharon responds calmly. She stares out into the distance in deep thought, losing her focus on their conversation.

"What's wrong honey?" Richard asks in a concerned tone of voice.

"Nothing, it's just... Today is his birthday." Sharon replies with a ragged breath escaping behind her sentence.

Richard breaks eye contact and curls in his frail lips at her words.

"I know, he would have been fifty-seven today. Crazy to think how time flies by so fast. Just yesterday, we were teenagers, living in Cedarmills in our first house together."

"A shitty house in a shitty town." Sharon hisses. Richard raises his brows, wishing he had never brought it up.

"I loved it there, I made some of my best memories in that town." Richard says scratching the back of his neck.

"How? You were never home. That place is what I call hell. Everything about it sickens me. The people are trashy, and I am so glad I moved out of that town. I'd move farther away from it if I could." She sips her wine, changing the mood entirely. Every year around this time, bitterness consumes Sharon whole and Richard overlooks it since he knows it is only because of what happened.

Richard pecks the top of her hand while he removes his feet from the water and grunts as he stands up. "I'll leave you alone now. Carol is making lobster and steak if you want some." He says, heading towards the entrance of their home.

Sharon remains silent and lets Richard walk away. Before he walks away entirely, he stares at his wife's backside, worried about her mental stability. She has had a few scares throughout the years and tried to take her life while her husband was away. The first attempt was the most brutal. She tied a rope to the ceiling fan and tried to hang herself in the living room. Judith, a close friend of hers came for a visit and stopped her while she was in the process of the attempt.

The second attempt, after going to visit Gregory's grave, she tried to drown herself in her own bathtub. Richard noticed she was taking a longer time than usual in the bathroom and found her face first with her whole head in the water. He pulled her out of the tub unconscious, blue in the face, and laid her on the bed naked to give her mouth to mouth.

Ever since then, she hasn't tried to kill herself again. Richard begged her to go see a psychiatrist, and for a while she did. They prescribed her medication for depression, she has been doing well for the past ten years, but her depression is still a lost cause. Not even the medication can cure it.

After those horrid chain of events, something good finally happened to the Micheal's. They won the lottery that was worth 16.5 million dollars. Everyone in Cedarmills wanted to befriend them, but not for an actual friendship. They were all just money hungry and Sharon was sick of it. That was when she donated all of her belongings to the homeless, sold her car along with her home and left town and hasn't been back since. The last time she visited Gregory's grave was when she tried to take her life. Guilt is in the pit of her stomach every day. She wants to go see her son and put flowers on his grave, but she won't build enough courage to go back to the town that ruined her life.

Can you blame her?