Falling Rose Petals

The poem at the beginning is an excerpt of one that I wrote back in 2002; it belongs to me! :)

"Your promises fall like the rose petals,
Dying before they hit the ground;
Your words fall off your tongue,
And die before they are spoken."

-"Promises" by LJH (me) - November 1, 2002

The day had started out as a good one, but sometimes things could be deceiving. As Rosalie Edwards thought back over the day she had, she wished for once that she knew more about her husband's past. Maybe then, she would be able to figure out where everything had gone wrong; maybe then, she could fix things...

The morning had been quiet, with Rosalie bringing her three daughters out to the store to purchase school uniforms for both Samantha and Grace. They had lunch out at the fast food restaurant of the girls' choice and they finally arrived home and Rosalie had sent Sammie and Gracie to their room to play quietly, while she had put Lucy down for a nap, and then she took a nap herself.

The mail had arrived in the afternoon with a letter addressed to Samantha is a deep green ink. It had a weird seal on the back, but Rosalie didn't see any harm in letting her open it. It was an invitation to a school called Hogwarts, where they claimed to teach magic. According to the letter, a Mr. Joseph Edgecombe would be visiting the following day to discuss this school with the family. He had such a strange title, Muggleborn Student Liaison.

Rosalie was rather confused, but she figured it would be best to meet with Mr. Edgecombe to figure out if this was legitimate or just a hoax. When Scott arrived home from work, Sammie was dying to tell him, but Rosalie made her wait until they had all sat to dinner. When she finally made her big announcement, Scott had a very strange look on his face, like he had swallowed something bad. Rosalie asked if everything was okay, and suddenly he smiled and replied to Sammie that it all sounded very interesting, but he would have to discuss things with her mother first.

This seemed to make their oldest happy, and the rest of dinner, she and Gracie couldn't stop wondering about this school; however, Scott was unusually quiet. After dinner, Rosalie put Lucy to sleep and had Sammie and Gracie play quietly in their room while she spoke with Scott.

He was sitting on the bed when she entered the room and when he looked up at her, he seemed scared.

"Scott, what's going on?" Rosalie asked.

"I just think that this school is a very bad idea; these people, you don't know them, but they are bad news for Samantha," he said.

She was taken aback. "What do you know of this school? I've never even heard of it."

"It's none of your business, Rose," he said, his eyes narrowing.

Rosalie took a step, feeling just as stunned as if Scott had slapped her. They had both had trust issues before they met each other, so they promised to always be truthful with each other; it was even written into their wedding vows.

"Well, that's just wonderful, Scott," she said, her voice and temper rising. "I think we should at least meet with this liaison before we make any rash decisions."

"I will not meet with him, Rosalie. If you insist upon it, then I will leave. I will not stand by and allow you to let Samantha go off to that school," he said, standing and reaching under the bed for his suitcase.

"That's being a bit harsh, isn't it?" she asked, trying to calm herself down.

"I don't believe so," he said, piling his clothes into the suitcase. "I'm sorry, Rose, but I need some space." He finished packing, and zipped up the bag.

"Scott, don't go; we can figure this out. Our daughters need you; I need you," Rosalie said, grabbing his wrist as he left the bedroom.

He just shook his head and wrenched his wrist out her grip, causing her to stumble into the bureau and knock a vase of pink roses to the ground. She collapsed onto the ground, crying as she heard the door downstairs slam shut.

Finally, Rosalie was able to pull herself together enough to tuck Sammie and Gracie into bed. She tried to convince them that their father would be back and everything would be fine, although she wasn't entirely convinced herself. After reading the girls a bedtime story, she dragged herself down the hall, threw on some pajamas and fell into bed.