(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[It had been a week of strong winds and heavy rains.
A weekend stay had turned into a week-long stay, floodwaters rising and blocking the roads.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[He was out of town for work, so it was just the three of us.
You made us hot chocolates as we sat around the little wood burner as the clouds continued to smother the sky.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[Despite the horrid weather, I think it was the most that I had ever seen you smile.
We played boardgames and watched old movies together, telling each other silly stories.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[You told us about an old family tradition of yours, to plant a fruit tree above those loved now gone.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[You told us how you ate the oranges grown from your grandmother's body.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[It was a bit morbid, but poetic, in a way.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[When the clouds cleared, and the roads dried, we went to the local park and sat on the swings together, eating oranges.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[ [['Stay safe']], you said as I left.
'You too', I said.
And I meant it.
❀]
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[His body was cold.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[So cold, I could hardly believe it had ever been warm.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[You'd be disappointed in me, I know, but I couldn't live on and do nothing.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[You deserve more than that.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[You deserved more than this.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[I'm sorry that it got to this point, that I was powerless to help you.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[I hope that you may rest in peace, now.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀]
(align:"=><=")+(click-replace: "❀")+(transition: "dissolve")[❀
Ild du Ild
Ndj'kt Sdct Ltaa
I|IV|V.I|V|IV| |VII|VIII|II
❀]