Changed Me ( Rewritten)

24

" He'd be glad to see that you have everyone " his mother says. He nods his head. " It's hard talking about him. I can't " he pauses, trying to stop himself from crying. He takes a deep breath as tears silently stream down his cheeks. " I haven't been able to do or talk about anything related to him. I miss him so much " he admits quietly.

" That's not true " NuNew says. He turns to look at him a little confused. " The other day. You were having a really rough time because of it. But you were able to look at the picture on your bookshelf. You even managed to talk about what happened with everyone. You were finally able to tell your side of what happened that day Nat " NuNew says. He turns to look down at his hand, holding Max's hand.

            " You were able to talk about it finally? I'm glad " his mother says. He lets go of Max's hand before standing up. " What are you doing Nat " Zee asks. " I've had to many bad things happen today. S-So maybe I can make a good thing happen " he says quietly, walking over to his bookshelf.

            He hesitantly grabs the photo album before walking back over to Max and sitting down next to him. " Don't force yourself if you aren't ready yet " Poppy says. " Everyone's here with me. S-So what better time to try then now " he says before setting down the photo album, in front of him.

            He takes a deep breath, grabbing ahold of the cover. Max gently grabs onto his thigh, gently rubbing circles on it, comfortingly. Taking another deep breath he slowly opens it, revealing the first photo. He bites his lip as he looks at it. The photo is of his father holding him when he was a newborn. He can see the love his father has for him, by looking into his fathers eyes.

He flips through each page until he stops on a certain photo. He gently wipes away the dust covering the photo before he picks up the photo album, setting it down on his lap. " I remember that day. It was your first time going to the zoo. You were so excited to see the tigers there " his mother says gently.

He nods his head, smiling sadly at the photo. " I couldn't see over people. So he put me on his shoulders. He carried me like that for so long " he says, lightly laughing at the memory. He then begins to flip through each page again.

This time when he stops on a photo. It's of him, his father and NuNew. He's hanging off one of his fathers arms. While NuNew is hanging off the other. His father is clearly struggling to hold the both of them up. But none the less, all three of them are smiling brightly.

" Do you remember this NuNew. We were probably in 6th grade " he asks, slightly moving the photo album so that NuNew could get a better look at the photo. " Yeah I do. We made a stupid bet. That he couldn't hold the both of us up for a whole minute " NuNew says. He nods his head before saying " We we're right ".

He takes a deep breath. He knows that the pages beyond this one are filled with more recent photos of him and his father. Meaning that it's going to get more difficult for him to look at them without crying. Even though he knows this, he wants to continue. Looking through the photos is bringing a little comfort.

            He flips through the pages again. Smiling sadly as he remembers each picture of him and his father. This time, he doesn't stop until he reaches the last photo. Which has the very last picture him and his father took together. It's a photo of them both standing in front of the painting after he had won the competition.

            He gently places his hand over the photo. As if he could reach out and be taken back to that day. His father's expression is filled with nothing but love. He can even see how proud his father is of him by simply looking at the photo. " He was so proud of you for wining that competition. Everywhere he went, he would brag about how his son won a major art contest " his mother says.

He wipes away the tears that stream down his face as he takes a deep breath. Turning the last page, he looks at the handwritten letter from his father. That's taped to the photo album.

" To the best son anyone could ask for,
I thought for so long, trying to figure out what the best gift I could give you is. In the end, I decided to give you this album. Containing photos throughout your life that have the both of us in them. That way, you could not only feel my love from the gift. But see my love that I have for you. It's the perfect gift I can give you. It'll last forever. So that you can always go back and look through our time together. So that you can look through it and remember just how much I love you. How happy I am to have a son like you. And when the day comes that I am no longer with you, you can look through this as comfort. To see how much joy I had in my life thanks to you. This gift is my silent, I love you. Whenever you look through this, know that I am there with you and saying I love you. Because I do. You're the best son I could have asked for.
From, Your father "

By the time he finishes reading the letter, he's crying. He had forgotten what the letter said. He's so glad that he looked through the photo album. So that he could come upon this letter and read it. The letter has brought him so much comfort.

Max gently takes the photo album from him before reading the letter out loud. So that everyone can know what's written. " It really was the perfect gift. He did an amazing job at choosing that gift " his mother says. He can hear that she's trying to stop herself from crying.

" This letter. I forgot what was written on it. It's brought me so much comfort. H-He's not here anymore yet he still managed to comfort me. This is such a him type of letter. He knew how I would feel when he was gone " he says quietly. Max wraps his arm around him, pulling him close for comfort.

            " I think we should go visit him. It might bring you comfort and you can introduce everyone to him " his mother says. " I haven't been to his grave since the funeral " he says quietly. " All of us will be there with you " NuNew tells him.

            He takes a deep breath before quietly saying " If we don't go tomorrow. I won't be able to get myself to go ". Max grabs ahold of his hand, gently squeezing it. " We can go tomorrow morning " Poppy suggests. Everyone nods their head in agreement.

                      WC: 1201