Missing Her

Silence. For over thirty years he longed for a night free from the snoring that her sinuses caused. Foolishly, he thought he could sleep much better if the grating sound did not echo in his ears. Now he lies restlessly, unable to sleep in the silence. Darkness. The pillow he often placed over his head to muffle the sounds coming from the other side of the bed, Also helped shield his eyes from the glow emitted from the nightlight she could not sleep without. Now he lies anxiously in the darkness with the unplugged light laying harmlessly on her bed stand. Unencumbered. His uncontrollable habit of wiggling his foot at night, which helped him fall asleep, He consciously had been suppressing because the motion bothered her rest. Now, free to wiggle in the empty bed, he lied motionless, too tired to move. How he longed to hear the snoring he once thought he detested. How he wished he could gaze upon the outline of her sleeping body in the shadows cast by the nightlight. How he desired to feel her elbow poke him in the side to still his gyrating foot. The silence; the darkness; the freedom to move; What he once considered long lost friends were now his enemies. The sleep lost due to the sounds, the light and the restrictions on movement were a small price to pay for having her by his side. Now that he is free to sleep in peace – he cannot. He misses her too much and the pain in his heart will prevent a restful sleep for a long time to come.