Something I wrote #3

A Story by A.B.

Short story about a girl who has a dream that will greatly ease her pain. A story about love and loss.

I dreamt of you last night.

I was walking in woods where the trees grew when I walked past them. They grew so tall and wide. Their leaves were a mixture of greens and reds of all different shades. Their branches reached out to the branches across from them and formed a covering. At first I did not realize it; their leaves were covering me, protecting me. It was then that I first heard the tranquilizing pitter-patter of rain landing on the tops of the giant trees. It was the strangest thing.

It felt like spring, my favorite time of year, but it looked like a rainy, winter's day in the south. The air in the woods was thick and cloudy. The sun snuck into the woods through the small cracks in between the leaves. It looked like someone threw paint on the ground, except this was much prettier. The ground was only fine soil; it was so rich and soft against my bare feet. I looked to the ground as I walked and noticed tiny patches of grass grew around my foot steps. A gust of cool wind then kissed my cheek and lifted my chin up. I could have sworn it was you at first. I felt loved, peaceful. I walked alone but I was anything but alone. These woods somehow lived. All together the trees, rain, sun, soil, grass, and wind; they sang a lullaby written specifically for me. Then I heard the strangest thing.

The faintest sound of keys on a piano had begun to play from a distance. The sound was so soft, so comforting, but something about it saddened me. None of it made sense. There I was in gloomy, magical woods that seemed to have no end, but I had never felt more at home. Shouldn't I have been afraid of the unknown? The unknown seemed so stunningly breath-taking in those woods.

I closed my eyes and listened carefully to the sweet melody coming from a piano that I could not see. Something about it reminded me of you. I felt like I knew the song like I know you, but I had never heard it before. With my eyes still closed I stepped forward and followed the mesmerizing sound and trusted the woods to guide me. The path led me to the left, and then to my right for a quite a while. Suddenly, the music stopped. My eyes swung open to see the back of a gorgeous, black Grand piano, sitting in an open space filled with green grass. I then realized that not only had the piano stopped playing, but the wood's lullaby fell silent. There was not a single sound left to be heard. I looked all around me unsure of what was to come. There was no telling what kind of magic lived in the woods.

I turned to face the piano once more but this time a person was standing in front of it. At first the figure was hard to make out. Slowly the person's bodily features cleared up. I recognized the deep, ocean-blue eyes that stared back at me. A smile swept across his face and lingered there. It was you. I was stunned; as if you read my mind you walked towards me; you knew I could not move. I was overwhelmed by your beauty in that moment. Your strong arms wrapped around my waist; it felt so good to be within your grasp again. I looked up at you, you looked back at me. You leaned in and whispered in my ear, "I knew you'd find me". Tears of joy spilled down my cheeks. You held my face in your hands and pulled it to your own. You kissed my lips. My eyes closed as I took it all in; the joy, peace, and the love, I felt rushing through my entire being. All I could do was tangle my hands in your soft brown hair and kiss you back with all the passion I had within me. I did not care that nothing around me made any logical sense. You were with me; that was all I needed to know.

You unlocked our lips; our noses gently touched. "Open your eyes.", you said to me. I did not realize they remained closed, but I did as you requested. And then I was alone. You were gone. I searched for you but you were nowhere near me. Left in your place, where you once stood and kissed me, grew a sunflower out of the soiled ground. You know that is my favorite flower. The yellow-stained sunflower grew up to my knees. I knelt down to touch its lovely petals. I expected them to feel tender and a little fuzzy, but what happened next I did not expect. As my index finger met the first petal, memories of us, of our many years together, flooded my mind. The memories of us went back to when we were twelve years old. From then on were memories of us, at our birthday parties, with our parents, with our friends, and skating together. I saw us playing in your front yard as kids, our joint family summer vacations, our high school years, graduation day, and on the memories flowed, to our college parties. We were always together, always so happy.

All of a sudden memories I did not want uncovered, played in my mind. I saw the waiting room at the hospital. I saw your mother on her knees with her face in her hands, your father comforting your mother, and the Dr. when she informed us that you had passed away in surgery. I saw your car so smashed; it did not look like much of anything anymore. I saw your funeral; it was a beautiful service. Everyone loved you. I loved you.

Somewhere inside me I found the will to open my eyes once more. A great sadness overwhelmed my heart, so much so that I thought I might actually die from the pain in my chest. Your kiss still lingered on my lips; suddenly, everything made sense. The protection I received from the woods, the rain, the sun, the soil, the grass, the wind, all of it made sense. It was you all along in different forms. The woods were not magical after all. Your beautiful spirit lived there. You were the heart-melting melody I heard coming from the piano, and the lullaby coming from the woods. You were the wind that kissed my cheek and lifted my chin up. You were grass that kept track of my footsteps so I would not get lost. You kissed my feet with the soil. You were the splattered sunshine that painted the ground. It was really you who protected me from feeling pain and loss in the woods. Your favorite colors filled the tall trees. That was why it all felt familiar, right. I was home and we were together again.

I gently wrapped my fingers around the sunflower, and softly planted a kiss in its center. "Thank you.", I whispered back to you knowing somehow you heard me. With the sunflower hugged close to my chest, I decided it was time to wake up. So I did; a small but peaceful smile grew upon my face. Reality set in. You passed away unexpectedly two months ago. You were driving to my house one night for our infamous inside movie night. Someone who decided to drive after drinking at a party hit you on the driver's side; your car flipped seven times, and you died while in surgery.

I miss you so much. I love you more now than you will ever know. Thank you for creating such a perfect place for me to rest peacefully in. A place for just me and you. What a wonderful dream it was.

Anna B. 04.12.16.