The autumn of our lives

I have loved you forever, dear, having shared the perfect lifetime, side by side. Now we're at the end, our autumn, bereft of all our friends.

You are still beautiful, once so sweet and vibrant, now you're shrivelled and wrinkled. Ha! I'm a "crinkly", too!

You're cold, my sweet, there's no time left. I love you and say goodbye as you slip away.

I cannot survive alone, I'll follow soon, my love.

From the window, Alice saw first one, then the last leaf flutter to the ground, the tree bare, following last night's frost. Autumn was over and winter reigned.