All the Silent Things

Friendship

Cream is the color of my mother's skin

and the color of the clothes she wrapped me in

Pink is the color of the flowers by our door

and the color of her cardigan when I was four

Orange is the color of the sunrise at dawn

and the color of her dress when she was gone

"Remember Luke, Life is too short for you to spend it doing anything other than living. It's too short to spend hating yourself. It's too short to keep trying to hold onto things that weren't meant to be. Because people don't live forever, memories do."

Grey was my world when the casket was closed

Blue was the song the chorus composed

Black were my best friend's eyes as he looked at me

Clear were my tears because of where I'd rather be

Purple is the color of the feelings that linger

Silver was the ring on her cold left finger

Brown was the dirt they buried her in

Grey the words: Here lies Katelyn

Now cream is the color of our walls and the curtains in the halls. It's the color of the vase put out in the corridor. Cream is milk mustaches when I was young. It's the color of my childhood, my memories, and my pain. Cream was the time I cried in my best friend's arms. It's the time I learned to put things behind me. It's the color that has peppered my dreams, my hopes, and leaps of faith. Because someone is watching me from above.

Orange were the flames when we played with matches and learned. Thick, black smoke and my best friend's skin burned.

Red was the color of the blood on our palms

Because I'll stand by you, and you'll stand by me

Stay by my side, and blood brothers we'll be.

I stared at the words I'd written. My life written out in pieces of memories.

My mother on the hospital bed.

My mother dying.

Her funeral.

The only time I cried in front of Damian.

The time...

I examined the small scar on my palm and smiled. It's been twenty years, and we're still best friends. I leaned back in my chair, balancing it on the two back legs. It's crazy how things speed by so fast. What's that thing Zeenath told me yesterday?

"...They say we're all made of stardust...That we're stars." She frowned, tugging her hand through her hair. "No one wants to get hurt." She traced the edges of Damian's notebook, pursing her lips before turning back to me, smiling. "But we all forget...As stars...in order to shine, we must burn."