Deb
You have done a really good job. You have written this in a way that you make the reader want more.
Excellent!
Love Cindy

Very nice Deb....I like how the poor tortured widow has sought solace in a drug to replace her obsession for her departed husband....this part is particularly vivid and descriptive...:

'Much to my wonder and vague horror, it turned into a dim and dreary place of living that which paralleled my doleful disposition, in that particular era of my life. The fertile foliage had relinquished life and died along with my ebbing strength of mind. I could no longer bear the feeling of being alone that I, without needing to ask, indulge into the same object of obsession with that of my ancestors--opium.

^I can see how the seasons must have paralelled her grief til she could bear no more.....this is beautifully written and I can't wait to read what happens next!!!