2.4 And so it begins. My final week before graduation. I have one last final on Wednesday then I am free. My brother-in-law will be traveling here with his family so he can walk with me so this will be a busy week. This next snippet is a tragic tale. Sorry. Artist: Gina Chacón, "After the Rain." Final Goodbye “It is said that the dead never truly leave us. They are able to communicate through the elements,such as wind and water, if we only stop and listen.” Mimi read aloud from the book, Grief and Coping, that her aunt Karen had given to her a few days ago. Mimi stood alone on a stone bridge in the rain, her charcoal gray dress gently floating in the breeze. She stared out at the drab, dark rainclouds above her and the dull, choppy lake below her. The color had drained from her world when Graydon had died nearly two months ago from a bike accident. If only she could see him one last time, hear his voice so she could tell him she loved him, maybe she could...no. Mimi shook her head unconsciously.
She knew that it was impossible, but that didn’t stop her from dreaming. The thought of never seeing Graydon again pained her too much. She shoved the pain aside and focused on his image the way the book explained. She thought of how the wind tousled his hair and rippled across his loose shirt as they walked around the lake. His smile that crinkled his blue-gray eyes and lit up her heart. She gathered all her emotions and memories of him and breathed out. She waited a heartbeat then opened her eyes. Her heart missed a beat.
Before her floated a young teenager with messy shoulder length hair and a face she knew almost a well as her own. He was completely made of air: his body swirled with the breeze. “Graydon…”
He smiled at her and she couldn’t stop the flow of words as they poured from her mouth. “I miss you so much. Why did you have to go mountain biking by yourself? I should have been there with you.” She choked back tears. “How could you leave me here alone? I..I love you, Graydon.” She stopped as he floated towards her and whispered in her ear.
“I love you too, Mimi.”
She looked down as she felt something press into her hand. A single red rose, barely blooming. Mimi looked back at Graydon’s spirit and gave a cry. “Wait, don’t leave me again!” She reached out to his retreating form dropping the rose and her umbrella on the slick stones. Below her the stormy, gray-blue lake foamed and crashed against the columns of the bridge. The wind whipped her dress and hair as she leaned over the edge of the railing, desperately reaching for him.
He continued to float away his voice echoing on the breeze over and over again, whispering her name. Mimi climbed over the railing, stretching her body to grasp his hand. For a moment she felt his hand grasp hers and she let go of the railing, smiling. Then her hand passed through his as she silently fell into the water with a splash and disappeared beneath the waves.
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