Pay It Forward as a Way to Say Thank You

Someone had been leaving fresh flowers every day on his wife’s grave, and Roger was determined to find out who and why. It wasn’t that he didn’t recognize that others had loved her, but he needed to understand what this daily homage meant. Had his wife taken a lover, and he was too busy working to notice it?

It was possible because when he was angry, he could be a beast, screaming to get her attention. Muffled in a blanket, she would sleep on the floor as far away from him as possible. His brother had warned him that she would bounce on him someday, leaving him for someone else who made her feel safe. But, for over twenty years, they had lived together, and there was never an indication of infidelity.

So, he waited by the large mausoleum nearby, intending to identify the person who seemed to have loved his wife as much as he had. Right after noon, he watched a young woman approach his wife’s grave with fresh flowers. As she laid them on the grave, he confronted her. Her name was Anna, and she told him how his wife had saved her life. When he asked how, she told him that one day, his wife saw the woman and her boyfriend arguing, and her boyfriend had swung to hit her, but his wife intervened.  

Then, his wife had told her to let the relationship go, because life was too short to live with someone else’s anger. She had done so for over twenty years, and she had lived to regret that she hadn’t left and given herself the chance for a peaceful life. But she had been taught to stay by her parents, her minister, and her friends. It was the way it was in her day. The young lady had taken her advice and had a wonderful life, with a loving home. The flowers were her way of saying thank you to his wife, but also a daily reminder to pay it forward to other women.

Written for Fandango’s Story Starter #238. The Fandango One Word Challenge prompt is Muffle. The three Things Challenge #MM366 prompts are Bounce, Brother, and Beast.

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