The Hourglass

  He came back to a house of ghosts. They peered from windows, rattling against the glass, and he thought maybe he'd come to the wrong door. Once his key fit the lock it became clear that this was it. This was the home he had left weeks before, just shadowed and different. The furnishings were draped in countless shades of gray and the air was still and musty.
  A specter was watching him with large, dark eyes and he could not look away. Before he could ask "What are you?", it spoke."I'm not. I could have been, but you weren't here." It continued to stare.
  He moved down the hallway, running a hand through the dust on the walls. What had happened in this place? It seemed as if it had been untouched for years, but surely she was here?
  It was dark and silent except for the soft sound of ghostly feet padding across the hardwood. As they passed he was compelled to look into their faces, seeking answers, but their expressions told him nothing. It occurred to him how odd it was that he wasn't frightened. No, not frightened at all, just cold to the core as if submerged in frigid water for too long. He had the distinct impression that he would never be warm again.
  This was the doorway to the room they shared. He turned the knob knowing she would be there, and she was. Her form was mist-like. She seemed to float as she paced back and forth in the dress he had always loved.
  She looked up and met his eyes with her own, now dark and round. Her cheeks were hollow, her skin translucent and pulling against sharp bones that did not seem her own. Her hair hung against her face like a frame on a black and white photo. As she reached out to touch his cheek, he saw that  the hourglass on the chain around her neck was empty.
  He was sick with grief and realization. She was gone, their world was fragmented and broken. This place was haunted and he would be too.
  "Time did not stop," she spoke sadly, "I could not wait."
  She gestured to the clock on the wall. The hand was between the five and six and he'd returned just minutes too late.