Lost and Not Found.

Posted on Sun May 22nd, 2022 @ 11:25am by Captain Gary Taylor

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Gary's Ranch
Timeline: Back post
670 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

OOC: A Gary Taylor tale. A back post.

The funeral was over, the mourners were all gone. Only Gary was left behind. He stood at Catlin's grave. Tears streamed down his face and his shoulders shook as great sobs burst from his mouth as he stood at grave looking down. "Catlin, oh God Catlin, it wasn't supposed to be like this! We were supposed to live our lives together, have kids, grow old together. You weren't supposed to die in some stupid accident!" He railed as he looked up to the heavens.


"What am I going to do without you here with me? You were my world Catlin and now that world has been turned upside down, inside out and destroyed. All the plans we had, of places to go and things to do, gone in a puff of smoke." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand. He now knelt at the grave, his hand resting lightly on the grass. "It's going to be hard now Catlin, my love. There is no more joy, no happiness. No acting silly, doing crazy things, no dancing to the songs we loved or skinny dipping in the pond. All that is left is my job. I'll devout myself to that, to be the best I can be."


A figure watched from the house's back porch. She had come later than the others to pay her respects and to see her favorite pup. The legendary Grey Wolf. To see him wounded and hurt, hurt her but she vowed to help restore Gary. If there was no joy in his life now, she would feel it with purpose. He would be an extension of her, her weapon to root out and eliminate evil wherever it tried to hide. So, she quietly vowed or she wasn't Admiral Anje Zhukov, the Wolf Queen.

Gary had stopped talking and just knelt at the grave. He was emotionally drained and hadn't slept in days. As he looked at the grave through puffy, tear stained eyes. A song came to him . "For you my love, so you know how much you mean to me. How much you will always mean to me. I love you Catlin." Then began to sing softly, The words filling the air around him.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So, I hung my head and I cried

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away."

As he finished, he closed his eyes, and hung his head and he just continued to kneel, as if frozen in place at the grave. He had no idea how much time had passed when he felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder. Turning his face, he saw the Wolf Queen standing there, her face set in stone, though her eyes were downcast and full of sorrow. "I am so sorry about Catlin, Gary but I need you and the Federation needs you. There's still work left to do." Her hand rose from his shoulder and extended to him. "Grey Wolf, let me help you, let Kerri help you, let the rest of the pack help you. We're a family. We all look after each other." After a moment of hesitation, Gary clasped her hand and nodded. The Queen was right and Catlin would want him to get back to work. She would have insisted on it. "Let's go." He said simply, standing up. The Queen nodded, Gary would be alright. He would heal. His emotional pain would become an emotional scar. But it would take time and she had all the time in the world to help him.

 

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