"Hey Reiko...How are you doing?" He said, placing a fresh bouquet of roses in front of the stone. "I...I am happy today, cos' I top the class again. You happy for me? I bet you are hahha.."
There was a cruel irony in the gravestone. It stood there with its youthful glow, strong, erect, ready to last a hundred years or more. Yet Reiko had already perished and begun her inevitable decay. It was something permanent to mark something so transient. Her flesh returns to the soil, the memories evaporate, her life extinguished.
Keito come when he felt like his foundations will crumble if he can't speak to her again, like an unsteady Jenga tower with someone tugging at a crucial brick. He knows it's ridiculous, its been 3 years, but somehow this slice of rock steadies him again and sends him back to his life. So until they are united in the here after, he swore he would visit like every other soul who has lost a piece of themselves.
Keito started crying, again. He blinked briny tears from bloodshot eyes, his thick lashes stuck together in clumps as if he'd been swimming. The tears made wet tracks down his face and dripped from his stubbled, wobbling chin. Clear watery snot streaked from his flaring nostrils down his red mottled skin to his open quivering lips. His hands open and closed, rhythmically clenching as if there could be some violent solution to his pain if only he could find it. After what seemed like hours, he finally calmed down. Wiping away his tears with the back of his hand, he whispered,
"I love you, Reiko....Forever and ever.."
As he left, a red speck appeared in the sky. The balloon drifted lazily and slowly descended onto the grave stone. As if planned, a protruding root hooked its string and held it firmly. On the balloon was two cartoon characters, giving each other a loving kiss on the lips.
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The End
Epilogue
"Love so beautiful yet dangerous like the thorny Rose."
YOU ARE READING
Red Balloon
RomanceSo until they are united in the here after, he swore he would visit like every other soul who has lost a piece of themselves.
