rain and the book of longing 

rain and the book of longing

he reached out onto his bedside table, hoping to find there some water, or perhaps a coke and cognac. but his hands fell onto a book. and so he picked it up. it was a diary. a journal, obviously quite old. well used.
he opened it up and recognized immediately his wife's handwriting. the first entry was a week after their wedding. he flipped through the pages and read. the journal covered all the years of their married life. he found it difficult to read, because of his aching head, his eyes. he glanced through more pages and never once found a particularly happy sentence. he closed the book and put it back on the bedside table. a rather large and heavy chinese american nurse walked in. she smiled. he looked out the window. it was raining heavily.