There is no feast in the world, and we seem to have long been accustomed to separation, always comforting ourselves that parting is for the next better reunion.
However, not all separations can be expected to be reunited.
A decision of Francesca, the heroine of "The Dream of the Covered Bridge", completed a complete family, but failed her half-life feelings, and wanted to continue the frontier after more than ten years, but unfortunately there was no chance.
After that, Robert gave up photography, and Francesca gave up farm life in addition to the necessary labor, and the two spent all their time together, either chatting or lingering.
On two occasions, Robert played the guitar and sang for her at her request, not very comfortable, because she was his first listener.
On Thursday afternoon, they had a conversation, and both knew it was coming, and they had been running away.
"What do we do?" Robert asked. Francesca was extremely conflicted, and after a brief silence she said softly, "I don't know. ”
"Is that good, if you want, I'll stay here, or in town, or anywhere." When your family comes back, I'll talk to your husband and make it clear to him that it's not easy, but I'll do it. Robert proposed.
Robert wanted to persuade Francesca to go around with him, to take her on expeditions, to see the most beautiful landscapes, or to stay in the country and not go anywhere, as long as she was around, he was willing to do whatever he wanted.
Francesca shook her head, and she told Robert how much she wanted to go with him, that life here was boring, no romance, no lust, no dancing in the candlelight, and most importantly, no him.
But here is her responsibility, to Richard, to the children. She longed for Robert not to let her relinquish her responsibilities, and she didn't want to be entangled in this matter for the rest of her life and become another woman he no longer loved.
Robert was silent, fighting fiercely inside, desperately trying to understand her feelings. Subsequently, the two held each other for a long time, and Robert said to her:
That night, they touched each other and whispered until dawn. Wait until the red sun shines, and kiss each other reluctantly.
"It's time for me to go." Robert was ready to get in the car. Francesca nodded and began to cry.
She saw tears in Robert's eyes, but kept his characteristic smile. Francesca's mind went blank, she was lost, and a voice inside her was desperately shouting, "Don't go, Robert." ”
After marriage, meet the person you like, which is a problem that modern people will inevitably encounter, some people will choose to bury this relationship deep in their hearts, become a secret of their own, although they miss, but still will guard the existing family; some people will decisively divorce, to the past life to draw a close, set sail again; some people may not want to give up the consummation of the family and do not want to give up the warmth of the lover.
The world has two perfect laws, and it is not as good as it should be.
That afternoon, Richard and the children returned home, told her interesting things about the past few days, and praised her tacos for being delicious.
After watching the TV, her husband, Richard, walked up to her, stretched out and said that it was better to go home, and asked her if she wanted to go back to the house to rest.
Francesca refused, and though she was tired, she was afraid that her husband was thinking about sex, and she couldn't handle it tonight, preferring to spend a little longer outside.
In the next few days, she avoided going into the city, afraid that she would not be able to control herself, afraid that as soon as she saw Robert, she would collapse and follow him away.
On Tuesday, the family's vegetables were almost finished, and Richard needed to buy a part, so the two went out together.
The weather was overcast, with light rain and mist, and summer hadn't passed yet, but it was a little cooler after all.
When they had finished their purchases and got into the car, Francesca saw the familiar car, and she could clearly see half of Robert's head. After that, the two cars followed Robert's car several streets, and he was ahead, so close to her.
It hadn't been since Robert left last Friday that she realized how much she loved more than she had ever thought. But her responsibility had frozen her in the car, and she could only stare at the rear window of the car in front of her.
Robert rolled down the window to make a little clearer when he was cornering, and he completed the turn, and Francesca could see his hair fluttering in the wind.
"I was wrong, Robert, I shouldn't have stayed... But I can't go... Let me tell you again.... Why can't I go..." At this point, Francesca was like a soulless witch, repeating the spell over and over again in her heart.
She seemed to hear Robert's voice coming from the main road: "In this chaotic universe, such a definite thing can only appear once, no matter how many lifetimes you live, it will never happen again." ”
Her eyes were blurred by tears, and the rain was getting heavier and heavier at this moment, just as she was in the mood at the moment. When Robert's pickup truck disappeared into the rain, she said softly, "Goodbye, Robert." ”
Then she cried, crying so bitterly. Richard didn't look over and ask her what was wrong, and Francesca burst into tears, unable to cry, replied that she only needed to stay by herself for a few minutes.
If Francesca knew it was their last side, would she have jumped on that truck desperately, and if everything could have been repeated, would the ending have been different?
The month after Robert's departure, Francesca subscribed to National Geographic magazine. The following year, articles and photographs of the covered bridge were published, and she cut out the photographs and articles of the covered bridge, along with his letter in a cowhide envelope, and like a distant observer, she followed Robert year after year, watching him grow old.
In a 1967 issue of the magazine, Francesca found a special photograph, she saw that Robert had a small round plate tied to the necklace around his neck, and she used her son's high magnifying glass to see that there were several words engraved on it, it was her name "Francesca", and all the subsequent photos had this small round plate hanging on the silver necklace.
Francesca had never contacted Robert before Richard's death, though for years she weighed it on the edge of the blade every day.
Years ago, Robert hadn't bothered her since he had sent a letter and a few photos. He understood her feelings and the trouble he might cause her.
Richard died in 1979, and Francesca wasn't sure if her husband knew about her unforgettable love, but when he was dying, he said something to her in the hospital: "Francesca, I know you had your own dreams too, and I'm sorry I didn't give it to you." In Francesca's view, this was the most moving moment in their lives together.
After her husband's death, Francesca remembered to call Robert, who was supposed to be sixty-six, and she was fifty-nine, though fourteen years had been lost, but it was still too late.
She found the phone number from his letterhead, and when the phone was answered, she felt that her heart was almost about to stop beating, and she heard someone pick up the microphone and almost hang up the phone again.
But a woman on the other end of the phone told her it was an insurance company. She made several phone calls in quick succession, but did not reach Robert, after which she stopped searching.
She began to allow herself to miss Robert more and more, and every year she would go to dinner at the restaurant they had been to. Once she also bought back a blank piece of paper, wrote down the details of her love affair with him and thoughts about him, and wrote a total of three books before she was satisfied.
In 1982, Francesca received a package from a Seattle law firm informing robert that he had died. Inside the package was his camera, the silver necklace and bracelet with the medallion hanging from it, and the note that Francesca had written years earlier, which he had kept for nearly twenty years.
If you don't love, how can you keep a note for nearly twenty years? If you don't love, how can you engrave a name on a round plate and hang it on your chest every day. Love her to the bone, love is a disaster, but not qualified to meet, and when it is qualified, there is no chance.
Also in the package was a handwritten letter from Robert stating that he had been on the road for a decade after his departure, and that he had kept himself busy walking around in order to resist the thought of her. But in fact, as long as he was awake, he missed her all the time, and he even wanted to take her away at all costs.
But he respected her feelings, he knew he couldn't do it, his heart was dusted. He had had several women before her, and not one after her, and he had lost interest in the other women.
But he was still grateful to have met her in the vast universe and let them have a love for four days, although short- but eternal. It was just a pity that he could never be with her, which was the most merciless cry of sorrow in the depths of his mind.
The letter ends with the words: I love you, deeply, with all my heart, forever.
In the five years since receiving the package, looking through the contents has become Francesca's annual birthday ceremony.
On the afternoon of her sixty-seventh birthday, she made another trip to the Rossman Bridge, and when she returned she dried the swing with a towel and sat on it for a few minutes, then went to the courtyard door to stand again, and then walked to the alley entrance.
Twenty-two years later, she still remembered robert when he stepped out of the truck and asked for directions, and the look in his eyes when he left.
After a few years, never see you again. How did Robert spend the remaining twenty years after he left Francesca? Let's look forward to tomorrow's interpretation.
Text/ZizhuLing: Multi-platform contracted author, freelance writer. Welcome to pay attention to @ Life with Books, Classic Good Books, and Read with Jun.