A Widowed Drake

I drove to Panera this evening for dinner. I spent the whole afternoon locked in my hotel room trying to complete work for school, and I thought I would get out a bit for a bowl of soup and a sandwich. It took me quite a while to get to the restaurant, that on my return trip I discovered was only 2 minutes away. As I pulled into the parking lot I saw a mound of something in the roadway. I continued pulling forward and realized it was a Mallard drake standing next to the body of a hen. A car must have backed over his mate, and he stood sentry, waiting for her to join him on their evening walk. Some people stopped and tried to help the new widower, but he didn't move from her side. It was sad. This trip that I am on is a yearly excursion. Last year when I returned, Hubby had already left for WV to attend a conference. When I returned home I took the boys on a bike ride. Yeah. That bike ride. It's been nearly a year...April 11, 2010...I feel for that drake standing guard over his love. It is a sickening, gut-wrenching fear. Time forever told by the hands of one clock.