As she held the thorned stem of what was once a rose in her hand, her mind pressed through her memories trying to find some satisfaction in her situation, but none came to her. She sat lonely in an old abandoned train station just outside of her home town in Virgina where she had found the rose on a nearby bench.

Though she was here at this particular moment, she hadn't been home in almost ten years. She had gotten a scholarship to a california college, which lead to a career, and which eventually lead to a husband and three kids who meant the world to her.

She turned the rose at a different angle to get a better look. It's once white silky pedals had turned the putrid rotting color of brown and it's stem was snapped and missing most of it's thorns. This was mostly how she felt inside, torn and dead.

As she went on about her life in California, her Father in Virgina came home from work every night by himself with no one to talk to. Over ten years she had only talked to him four times, once when she had married and once when each of her three boys were born. Ever since her mother died on her 18th birthday they began to grow apart bit by bit until every night after school up to the day she graduated and left, she lived with her friends. They had never really gotten along before her mother died, but the blow of her being killed in a car wreck sent them both over the edge.

Now her father was gone...she hadn't even gotten the chance to say goodbye, that she really did love him, but lacked the courage and pride to tell him so. He had gotten cancer, and the docter told him three months prior that he had a month left to live. Not a letter or even a phone call, and now she felt exactly like the withered mess that lay in her hand. She wrapped her hand around the flower tightly, letting the thorns peirce her fingers hoping this pain would dull the one throbbing in the back of her mind.

She took those last few precious memories of her father and held on to them as tightly as the flower, she didn't want to let them go fearing she would lose them and forget about the man who brought her into this world.

*ring*

She ignored her cell phone hoping it would stop soon and leave her with her thoughts, but the noise peirced her like a knife...

*ring*

She opened her eyes and searched through her overcoat pulling out a small black cell. She opened it and answered, "Hello?"

"Rose? Where are you!? The funeral starts in ten minutes!" said the high pitched voice of her cousin.

"Sorry, I was collecting myself."

"For what? You barely knew the man. You didn't want to. Don't tell me your creating feeligs for him now?"

"Not that it's your business Josh, but I've always loved him! He's my father!" she said letting slip a bit of unwanted stress.

He let out a short unenthusiastic laugh, "You have a funny way of showing it. If it was me, you would have never known. You'd still be sitting in Cali pretending to enjoy your life. You don't deserve to be a part of this family."

"Well why did you call me then if you think I don't have the right to be there?"

"Cause I'm the only one that has your number genious. I was told to by the others. Just get down here now. God, I'm tired of listening to you already."

"Fine!" Rose slamed the phone shut and jabbed it furiously back into her pocket. She wiped a tear from her face and gave a little snif to clear her nose. She paused for one more moment before finding the will power to lift herself from the bench. She removed her keys from her purse then proceeded out of the station to find her car in the bright pink glow of the sunrise.