The piano.
Rin hadn't touched the instrument, or even gone near the room for seven years. Ever since...
No. She can't think of that anymore.
~^•^~
*Seven Years Earlier*
"Rin, they can't do anything!" Her father holds her back from running into the drab hospital room, though she fights with everything she has.
"NO!" She screams, her eyes producing waterfalls. "YOU CAN'T LET HIM DIE!"
"Rin." Her father forces her to look at him. "He's gone."
~^•^~
A tear slips down her cheek as she recalls the memory, but she pushes it out of her mind and wipes the tear away with the back of her hand.
Just as she turns to leave, she feels the need to look back at the sunroom.
The piano.
It just sits there, waiting to be played, to have its keys pressed and play beautiful music for everyone to enjoy.
She lets out a shaky sigh and slowly walks towards the piano and sits on the seat. The sunlight coming through the large windows casts a shadow across the edge of the large instrument.
Rin tentatively presses down the ivory key of the middle C, and it rings out a perfectly tuned note. She puts her left hand on and plays a C chord, and another on her right. The change in air has made the noticeable dust particles in the sunlight dance around her. She looks up outside the window to see the trees swaying slowly in the light breeze.
"I saw a ghost on the stairs..."
Rin plays a simple chord with that lyric and surprised herself. She has rarely ever sung a song, let alone play piano alongside it. Sure, she used to take lessons, but that was before the cancer arrived...
"And sheets on the tables and chairs. The silverware swam with the sharks in the sink. Even so, I don't know, what to think." She plays the simple chords as she sings the song she vaguely remembers hearing in her late mother's voice as a young child.
"I've been longing for daisies to push through the floor, and I wish that plant life would grow all around me, so I won't feel dead anymore. So I won't feel dead anymore." She plays the piano more upbeat, not missing a note.
"I saw a bear in the den reading my textbooks again. Bats flowed like traffic as they poured from the attic. Heaven knows, I could really use a friend."
"I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest. The trees keep the tempo and they sway in time. Quartet of crickets chime in for the chorus. If I were to pluck on your heartstrings would you strum on mine?" Finally, at the chorus, she can't control her tears anymore but her voice stays stable as the tears flow.
"I've been longing for daisies to push through the floor, and I wish that plant life would grow all around me, so I won't feel dead anymore. So I won't feel dead anymore. Your spirit is sweet, so pull off your sheet,
and give me a ghost of a smile.
Show me your teeth, 'cause you're teddy beneath, so just grin and bear it a while. Just grin and bear it a while." She wishes she could smile through the pain.
"I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest. The trees keep the tempo and they sway in time. Quartet of crickets chime in for the chorus. If I were to pluck on your heartstrings would you strum on mine? Tonight I'm busting out of this old haunted house. 'Cause I'm sick of waiting for all the spider webs to grow all around me. 'Cause I don't feel dead anymore. And I'm not afraid anymore." In reality, she feels more than dead.
"I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest. The trees keep the tempo and they sway in time. Quartet of crickets chime in for the chorus. If I were to pluck on your heartstrings would you strum on mine?" Rin can feel a cold draft flow through the warm spring air, leaving a chill on the back of her neck. She ignores it.
"If I were to pluck on your heartstrings would you strum on mine?" After finishing the last few notes, she finally lets out all of the pain that she'd been bottling up for years. Salty, wet tears leave little drops on the cream-white keys of the piano, joining with others.
Suddenly, she feels a pair of arms wrap around her from the back. She gasps and looks up, her eyes red.
"I've always been here. I've been watching you keep to yourself for seven years Rin, and I wish you didn't do that. It pains me to see you holding on to the heartache." His crystal blue eyes pierce into hers, even though they're slightly transparent. He hasn't changed a bit- same little ponytail he'd always tie his blonde hair to keep it out of his eyes.
"Len?"
"Of course Rin! I never left you. You really don't have a reason to feel dead. Live your life, don't let my death drag you down."
"But-"
"No Rin. I can't stay longer. I wish I could, but..." He sighs. "I'm sorry. Please, just know that I love you."
The warmth of his arms begins to fade, as does his gentle smile.
"I love you too, Len." Rin whispers, just as the last trace of his image disappears.
There was no way.
Yet there was.
When Rin looks to the floor in front of her, she sees daises poking up through the floorboards. Eyes wide, she dives to the ground and gently touches the pristine white petal.
"You really don't have a reason to feel dead."
And she doesn't.
She doesn't feel dead anymore.
Plant Life.
