The Last Summer

It was an abnormally cool last day of summer. The sky was overcast, and showers and thunderstorms had been coming and going all day. The rain provided soothing background noise for Ed and gave him something to listen to, other than the ticking of the clock on the wall. The gray overcast weather matched his mood. Ed was born on this farm, lived his whole life on this farm. He met the love of his life on this farm. And now, Ed is dying on this farm. At eighty-two years old, he hasn't farmed the land in years. His wife, Beatrice (Betty to him and only him), passed away some twenty-five years ago. Madly in love since they were teenagers, they had taken over the farm from Ed's father. Heartbreakingly, Beatrice and Ed were unable to have children of their own, so there would be no one to pass the farm on to. Just as his life was coming to an end, the farm's life was as well.

He stared out the window at the barn he knew so well, and he focused on its imperfections. Its age was showing. The once bright, apple red finish, now chipped and showing more aged wood than apple. The white window frames and sills were cracked and rotting away. The hayloft doors were missing, leaving a gaping hole on the second floor. The mighty roof, protecting livestock and equipment for generations, is now sagging and missing in spots. All the activity and noise that comes with a functioning barn on a farm was now silent and still.

Much like the barn, the farm was showing its age as well. The bright white farmhouse that gleamed in the morning sun was now faded and cracked. The cheerful red shutters painted at Betty's request to match the barn were crooked and some missing. The fields are overgrown now. The farm is in its final summer. Much like Ed. After he passes, his nephew plans on selling the farm to a developer for a new housing tract.

The sadness of the barn's state, and indeed the farm as well, was magnified by the rain tapping on the window's glass, blurring the view. Ed turns away from the window, closes his eyes for a bit before his niece gets back from the grocery store and pharmacy, and thinks back to the most beautiful summer of his life. The summer of young love.

It was hot that summer on the farm. Not the oppressive, humid kind of hot, but the sun baked sort of hot. Like an oven. The fields of corn were still vibrant, and the bright red barn stood out among the sea of green. The back of the barn opens to rolling pastures. Because of the heat, he had his shirt off. But also because he was trying to catch the eye of Beatrice, the farmhand's daughter. He was tall with well-defined muscles. The kind of muscles you get from doing manual labor on a farm. And Beatrice noticed. He was more fit than handsome but not unattractive. As he was loading the last stall of the day with hay, He saw her coming from the pasture behind the barn. He loved everything about her and had since the second grade. He was now an eighteen-year-old young man, and he still loved everything about her. Her fiery red hair blew in the breeze. Her porcelain skin, dotted with faint freckles that got darker the more she was in the sun. And on that particular day, he loved the way she looked in her sundress. She was strikingly beautiful. He knew right then and there that he was going to marry that girl someday.

They would meet every day at the big red barn, just as Ed finished the day's chores. They spent their time together walking hand in hand through the pastures, the tall grass tickling their fingertips. They watched golden sunsets from the hayloft and chased fireflies on the warm summer nights. They swam in the creek on sweltering days and spent hours laying under the branches of the old willow tree. They stole kisses and intimate moments in the barn throughout the day. They were in love.

As that summer drew to a close, Ed asked Betty to marry him, and she said yes. Although they couldn't have children of their own, he was happy with the life they built on that farm, full of love and friends and family.

Ed opened his eyes, wiping a tear away for the memories of what was, and immediately noticed how dull and gray everything seemed. His memories were bright and vibrant, and he longed to go back there. As he sat up in bed, something outside caught his eye. The barn. It was bright red, the red he remembered from that summer. The fields were green and full of corn. And standing in the doorway of the barn, waving to him at the window, was Betty. Young. She looked just like she did that summer. Ed took a step back from the window in disbelief. He couldn't understand what his eyes were seeing. He had stared out the window at that old, dilapidated barn all day, and it didn't look like that! He took a step closer to the window and peered out again, this time with his open hands on the window pane. It was the same view. Only this time, Betty was motioning for him to come to her.

He slipped his slippers on, put on a robe, and, using his walker, slowly made his way out the back door. He was heartbroken by what he saw. The barn was just as it had been all day. He was already outside for the first time in a week, and he wanted to see the inside of the barn one last time anyway, so he kept heading there.

He got to the barn doorway, doors now long gone, and it was dark inside except for the back doors of the barn. The scene just outside those doors was magical. How could this be? Through the dark, damp, silent barn, he could see the pastures just as he remembered them. He saw sunlight casting a glow. Confused, he turned around to look towards the front of the barn. Dark. Outside the doors, it was raining again. He turned back around and saw Betty standing before him, behind her the same illuminated view of the pastures just beyond the doors. She grabbed his hand, guiding him out from behind his walker. She grabbed both of his hands now, and she was walking backward, leading him to the beautiful scene through the back doors of the barn.

As they crossed over the threshold of the back doorway, Ed felt young again. He looked at Betty and brought their locked hands up to his lips to kiss them. He noticed his hands looked young again. He felt his face and his hair. He was young again.

"I don't understand. Is this a dream?"

"Ed, what do you mean? Are you feeling okay?"

He turned to look back towards the barn, expecting to see the old barn full of darkness, with rain on the other side and his walker in the doorway. Only he didn't. The barn was just as he remembered that summer. He grabbed Betty's hand tighter, kissed her on the cheek, and continued walking hand in hand through the tall grass that tickled their fingers. Past the old willow tree and along the creek into a beautiful golden sunset.

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