This is a fiction exercise; a woman in Kansas at Fort Leavenworth dies alone

She Died Alone She Died Alone He kissed her goodbye, that bleak wintery day, and he was off on reconnaisance for the Union Army. Left behind, she busied herself with homely chores. Often, on these missions, he'd be gone for two or three weeks, so she knew it could be a while before she'd see him again. When the little stone house was tidied, she got out her quilting supplies. In the last shipment from the East, there had been a wonderful surprise from her mother; new French fabric with brilliant paisleys and stripes. She was eager to design a new block that would show off this elegant fabric. She worked for a time on some variations of the Kansas sunflower, but it didn't do the fabric justice. She copied the paisley onto the back of an old letter, cut it out and tried several ideas. This exercise kept her occupied for several days, and she felt the loneliness only at night. Finally she found the perfect block design to show off the fabric. She busied herself for several days, carefully cutting out the pieces. As the colorful cloth piled up beside her, she became aware of a bone-deep tiredness. She shook it off, but each day, it swept over her earlier and earlier in the day. A month had past, and she realized that her exhaustion probably had its roots in a pregnancy. A momentary chill shook her. She had already lost three babies. She hurried off to see her friend, who was a midwife. This kind woman sent her to bed immediately, and tended to her needs each day. Another month went by, and still no word from the reconnaisance mission. She became concerned for her husband, and for the life slowly growing inside her. Then one blustery March night, there was a terrible fire in the fort, and every able bodied person was enlisted to get it under control. She could hear the cries and shouts from her bed. In the midst of all the turmoil, the unmistakable cramping began low in her back, moving swiftly to her abdomen. She tried to bear the pain, hoping her friend would check in on her. The hours ticked by, and the waves of pain threatened to engulf her. Her hope drained out with the blood that flooded out of her body. She attempted to drag herself out of bed, but fell to the floor. That is where the midwife found her bloodied, lifeless body the next morning.

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