Beside You

           A boy and a girl walked alone on a small path that twisted through a meadow. The girl was a beautiful flower, her hair the same brilliant red as the surrounding poppies that she was named after, and her eyes as blue as the cloudless sky above them.

            The boy’s face had a faint smile dance across it, as if he was remembering some pleasant, distant memory. The girl smiled. She knew what he was remembering. She could remember it, too.

            It was on a day similar to this. They had decided to have a picnic lunch here, as they had often done. But that day was more important, more beautiful than the other days. It was the day that had been together for five years. Those years had been filled with sunshine, with laughter, with a radiance that simply could not be replicated. They were amazed that they had found each other, a match that the angels above had blessed with happiness every moment they were together. After they had finished the picnic, the boy had gotten down on one knee. The diamond ring he revealed had shone in the sun, setting off a brilliance that made it seem like it was the sun itself. The girl smiled, laughed, and cried. She nodded and pulled him into her arms, whispering a promise, a promise that would never be broken.

            The boy’s smile started to wane as he realized they were nearing tall, iron gate that stood at the end of the path. Entering through the gate, he looked at all the stones that protruded from the ground. He kept his eyes on everyone, and slowed down once he reached the stone he was looking for.

            Tears began to stream down his face as he took out the single rose that he had kept inside his jacket. He placed it next to the stone that was engraved with four simple words: “Here lies Poppy Miller.”  The girl stood next to him, her own heart breaking as she recognized the pain he was going through. She crouched down and hugged him, though she knew he couldn't feel it. He could, and would, never know that she was beside him. But beside him she would stay.

            She had promised it.