The Bench

After losing his wife of forty-nine years, Bill Strahan finds solace on a park bench—working crossword puzzles, feeding squirrels, and avoiding the too-quiet house that still holds her memory.

When Mary Bender pauses to rest beside him one spring afternoon, their easy conversation reveals a shared understanding of grief and loss. A week later, she returns with a question that will unravel a connection neither of them knew existed—one that reaches back fifty years to a war, a prayer, and a young woman's act of faith for a stranger she'd never met.

A complete standalone short-short story (approximately 1,800 words) about love, loss, and the unseen threads that bind our lives together.