Three Days Dead

Day Two

Aquarius weaved through the halls and stepped outside in a matter of minutes, her footfalls muffed quietly be the soles of her flats. Gone were the denim shorts, band tee, and doc martins of yesterday. With a new day came a new image, and today she had bountiful curls of mahogany hair cascading over a plain, blue and white pok-a-dot dress.I thought she would be cold, but she didn’t seem perturbed by the early spring chill.

“What?” she asked with a curious glint in her eyes after she caught me staring.

I blushed and looked down at my untied shoelaces. “No, nothing. You just look nice today. Nice and different.”

She nodded. “I decided to be a bit more tame this morning. I like to change up my look every now and then. You wanna see where I’m going?” she asked, moving away.

Without waiting for a reply, she stalked off, moving her body down the street like she was some exotic wild cat on leisure. It was still so amazing to me how I could see so much beauty and wonder in a person, over and over and over again without fail.

Was this what it felt like to be in love with someone? I never wanted to loose this feeling, it was so amazingly wonderful. I felt full when I was with her, full and whole. Without her I was an incomplete being.

“Move those sassy feet!” she called back to me, stopped and waiting on the sidewalk. I balked, tripped, and then did this awkward jog/skip over to where she stood, taking some small joy in the smile she spared my pathetic performance.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

She shrugged. “My favorite places. I wanted to be outside today. I wanted to see the world some more, before my time is gone.”

I reached for her hand, nearly brushing her fingers. “We could do that.”

She didn’t look back at me, but she reached out to grab my hand and hold it in hers. Even with her face turned away I could see her smile.

“What are you afraid of, rejection?” she teased, coxing her head to the side and pulling me along, off the roads and into the greener areas that hid between housing developments and convenience stores. Down into the brush I followed her, skipping streams and dodging sinkholes of earth and grass.

She let go of my hand, and like one of the fey people of ancient legend, she skipped out of sight, laughing all the way. I tripped and lost my way, recovering in time to look up and see freshly turned leaves on a path further in. I looked either way for her but couldn’t see the color of her dress or shape of her body. I panicked for a split second and nearly choked.

“Aquarious!” I screamed, hearing my voice pitch an octave higher than it should have for any self-respecting male.

“Up here you fool,” she laughed from overhead. Leaves danced down and I looked up to see her perched on one of the lower branches, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “You sound so scared for me,” she teased with a sympathetic smile. “I must have really frightened you when I died. I’m so sorry.”

“You-you’re fast. I didn’t see you climb up there. How did you do that in a dress?” I asked, ignoring what she had already said about her death. I hated the reminder.

She didn't answer right away.

“...Will you be okay when I’m gone?” she asked.

I clenched my fists and looked away, turning back only when I heard a soft thud. She was crouched low now, having fallen to the woodland floor of her own accord. Straightening up, she stared into my being and I suddenly felt terribly exposed.

“It hurt a lot,” I finally confessed, knowing I couldn’t hide it. “I…we weren’t even friends, so I don’t know why, but it hurt more than anything else I’ve ever had to deal with.”