THE DECEMBER DIARIES

chapter seven - I bid thee farewell

The scolding sun shone through in complete disregard to the cold weather. Its beam tarnished the sacred rules of winter and for that reason alone, it was to be respected and appreciated. The sun asked no questions to the hemisphere; it simply shined and heated. It dared and insulted the comfort of predictability, and that's how they knew it too was a woman.

The girls carried heavy boxes from a truck into the kitchen, laughing at quick jokes and secretly taking bites off of the occasional fruits and vegetables inside the weighed cardboards.

Archangelo's sly smile beamed as he took the weight off Constantine's hands. "You really didn't have to help me restock."

She raised her chin so her face could be closer to his, "I know."

The other two girls approached them and placed their own boxes on the ground, growling in relief. Three men walked past them murmuring and glancing, to which Archangelo chuckled and acknowledged, "You guys are making me seem way cooler than I actually am."

Olympia proposed, "You can thank us with dessert, big guy."

He laughed and exchanged looks with Constantine, who raised her hands in self-defense.

Archangelo giggled and agreed to the deal.

Olympia dusted off her palms on her hands and exhaled sharply, "Well, we leave in three hours. I'm gonna head up and finish packing." Out of the three, she was the only one who still needed preparing for the trip back-- as she had stayed up late the night before while the other two packed their bags.

Baz and Constantine exchanged a glance with small smiles. The two had different desires as to how to spend their final hours, and that brought light to the fact that perhaps their old love that was so implicit in every glance, had dried off throughout the years and become a stain on a white dress. Yes, perhaps the love these girls shared was a stain.

Baz ran down the halls and arrived at the terrace out of breath, which made Mav laugh and then lay his hand on her shoulder, asking if she was okay.

They sat on the stone floor and ate stolen grapes and strawberries from a plastic bag. They didn't complain or curse at the universe, because they were holding hands. They were supposed to yell out injustice and cry with bitterness, but why would they do that if the monsters that haunted them were silent? And besides, what was left to be said?

Barnaby squinted while looking at the sky. "I leave in two hours."

He slouched his back and turned to her. "Will you be lonely without me?"

Her head weighed to the side and fell over her shoulder. "Maybe a little."

"Ask me if I'll feel lonely without you."

"I don't have to. I know you will."

He grinned. "You're right."

Baz's face was bright as the sun. "Solitude isn't all that bad, you know? I quite like it."

"I couldn't agree more, Bazentine. Loneliness is the mother of beauty."

"And what is beauty?"

"Death."

Her eyes shined terribly, "And what is life?"

"Well, death's younger sister. She's the curiosity that makes beauty seem irrelevant. You don't see kids running through the woods worried if their hair is in place, do you? Their desire to discover is far too irresistible to worry about beauty or death."

Barnaby's breaths became birds that flew away from her, but she gathered courage to try to understand the man that sat across from her one last time. "So if loneliness is the mother of death, who is beauty, and life, who is curiosity, who would you suppose is the father?"