The evening was rather bleak, and as Furley sat there by the Staddle Falls, once again fiddling with his wedding ring, he gave himself that time to allow his emotions to match the dreariness of the day.
By his feet was a note, crumpled up onto the floor, with the beginnings of a tear at the top of the page where he'd almost ripped it into ribbons. All it had said was; "I can't be around anymore, I'm sorry".
No real explanation, but he'd raced back to their home when he'd picked it up from the innkeeper, and found their house door to be locked and bolted. Even his key didn't work.
That was it, she was gone. As he sat there, stunned, only the rain and hood hiding his puffy eyes and red cheeks, he couldn't help but think to himself. "It's all my fault". "I drove her away". "I was reckless again and now she's left me forever".
He kept playing their lives together over and over in his head, along with the recent events to himself. Clenching his fists and releasing, his face screwed up, stomach knotting, he wanted to scream and shout, but finally, this may have been what he needed to control his emotion.
"When my business is done" he thought aloud to himself. "When it's all done, and when one of us is in a ditch, if I'm the one still breathing I'm going. There's nothing for me here anymore". Slipping the ring off his finger, he pulled his arm back to launch it forward and send it spinning through the air into the Falls below, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Sliding it into his pocket, he bit his lip hard, just like she used to do, and buttoned it tight to secure it.
"I'm sorry, Ede" he said again, under his breath, still holding onto the hope that she might one day return.
