The Rose That Never Withered (Wattys 2017)

‡Chapter 16 - A Different Side of Him‡

"The mirror of a man's heart is his actions" - Dr. Doug Weiss

Picture above is Rose at the balcony O^O ^^^^^^^^

My eyes fluttered open as I sat upright. I rubbed my eyes from sleep and took in my surroundings. It was dark. It was nighttime, as the doors leading to the balcony provided a faint light from outside. It was faintly illuminated with the moon's rays against it.

My eyes had adjusted to the dark and I can make out a figure beside my bed. It slept soundly with its head cushioned by its arms while its chest rose slightly with each steady breath.

It was Julianne.

I must have worried him with my behavior during supper. I suppose he got worked up and slept beside me to make sure I was okay.

Julianne was always so caring.

I quietly went down the bed, barefooted to cushion my steps. I wouldn't risk waking Julianne up; knowing he watched me sleep was enough to put a stint shade in my cheeks. I made my way to the balcony, stopping in front of the glass doors leading to it.

My hands gripped both of the wooden knobs. I turned it, cautious not to make any noise. I shut it gently behind me, walking to stand at the edge of the balcony with the light of the moon against the paleness of my skin.

I stared at the moon, something I was now accustomed in doing.

It never failed to amaze me: the beauty that the moon holds. It had a mysterious feel to it along with its luminescent glow, standing out from the darkness of the night to give light to travelers all over the fair lands.

It served as their guide to avoid losing their way towards their destination. Like a guide or a companion.

I stared at the moon a little longer, as if doing so could somehow get me some answers, some enlightenment of some sort to somehow bring an essential puzzle piece to the entire picture.

The moon was there that night Julianne had died, full and mysterious. The memory was still as clear as day inside my head, which is more than I can say for my other memories.

More importantly, I finally remembered my sweet Dianne. What Dianne had said in my dream had me rethinking everything. She told me to stay away from Julianne, but the question was, why? I couldn't think of one reason. It was simply just a dream, wasn't it? Who was I to listen to the requests of a silly dream?

Julianne was everything you could ask for in a man, I tried to reason out to my subconscious. The caring, intelligent, handsome, rich, individual any woman would die to be with. What more could you ask for? A dazzling face with a striking wealth to match?

Stay away from Julianne Vilgrain.

Dianne's voice kept echoing in my head. I had to admit, I felt a nagging feeling that something was indeed wrong in all of this. Like something was missing aside from Dianne's loving figure. Like something else was hidden from me. It was that growing void in my heart like someone just stuck their hand inside and squeezed my beating heart, hard. It was painfully unexplainable.

Or someone. a voice once again whispered. Remember.

I have to keep calm to get some answers. Panicking will not get me anywhere but losing my mind.

Focus Rose.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Focus.

What does she mean by don't believe everything you see nor hear? What's there not to believe?

This was all so frustrating. I wanted to search my memories for some enlightenment, but it proved to be harder than I thought. Every time I tried to, it was like there's a giant wall stopping me from seeing those essential memories; like it wants to keep me in the dark, hindering me from the answers that I seek.