My Diggy Diggy One Shots

Sjin

I stumble through the field of chilies, trying not to fall flat on my face when the farm comes into view. It looks so perfect, just like him.

“Sjin? Sjin!”

Not in the barn.

“Sjin?”

Not in the house.

“Sjin?”

Not by the animals or tending crops.

“Sjin?”

Not at Chili Wowas.

“Sjin.”

Just a statue.

Not him. Not him. Not him.

Just a statue. A look alike. Not him.

“Sjin,” Barely audible.

A voice from behind speaks. “He’s not here Sips.”

I don’t turn around. “Where?”

“You know I can’t tell you.”

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” I look at the ground, a single tear falling from my face.

“Sips-”

“Isn’t he?” I spin around, Lewis flinching and refusing to make eye contact. “At first the sadness was that of someone who wanted desperately to tell me. Now,” A chuckle bubbles it’s way up. “Now they can’t even look at me when I bring him up.”

Lewis keeps quiet.

I turn away, tears blurring my vision as I make my way back to the compound. “Goodbye Lewis,” I call.

Lewis keeps quiet.

He keeps quiet while I scream and yell and cry.

He keeps quiet while I rip the picture of him to shreds.

He stands there quietly, patiently, while I let everything out into my pillow.

He stands there while I run around the compound, smashing everything to bits.

He stands there with me, taking in the destruction.

“It’s not Sipsco if Sjin’s not here,” Barely audible.

He doesn’t question it. “I’ll take you to him.”

I don’t question it when he brings me back to the old Sipsco Compound.

At the doors to the now fallen tower I see many flowers and notes. “We didn’t have a proper burial.”

I nod, caressing one of the orange flowers that sit among the pile. “Nothing to bury?”

“It- it was better if he was left where he was.”

We leave it at that.

Lewis helps me gather up some flowers, nothing special, just some dandilions and bluebells,  finding a home for them among the others.

“It’s time to go, Sjin. I hope you’ll understand. I- I love you.”

Lewis smiles sadly. “He loved you too.”

“Bye,” I say over my shoulder as we turn away.

“Bye,” I say at the bottom of the hill.

“Bye,” I say just before the compound disappears over the hill.

“Bye,” I say, all the way to the new compound.

Lewis helps me clean up the mess. Doesn’t say anything about how this is going to affect the company greatly.

Lewis watches from afar as I start a fire where the farm used to be. It’s a small fire, bricks laid in a circle around it as a makeshift pit.

I watch the flames get higher, using wood to fuel it. The lumberjack shirt I haven’t worn in a very long time is loose and not very warm.

I watch as my spacesuit, the thing I wore for so long, the thing that holds so many memories, burns.

I look up at the sky and smile. “Look at that Sjin, blue and orange. Together again.”