"IT'S JUST SO PRETTY," AMIRA whispered from beside me, her small hand tightly wrapped around mine and her eyes glued to the field out in front of us.
Her tiny frame shook with eagerness, ready to go play with the multiple flowers and roll around in the grass. In my other hand, I held a picnic basket filled with various fruits and perfectly cut sandwiches I prepared for us this morning. Amira insisted on packing ice cream, too, despite the extremely hot weather outside.
When I told her it would melt, she simply said, "Then we'll have milk with broken cookies in it, Daddy. Did you bring our big kid cups?"
Amira—a little girl with brown, curly hair and blue eyes that reminded me so much of her deceased mother—owned a bright pink cup with different color butterflies on them. I told her she was a big girl once she reached the age of four.
She turned four nearly two weeks ago.
Still, I left the ice cream behind at the house. Every Tuesday afternoon, we walked to the field not far from our home and we enjoyed lunch together outdoors where it was nice out. There were times when Amira would get excited about seeing a squirrel, often asking if we could take it home and feed it acorns. The answer was always no but she never got mad about it. I often heard her whisper, "It's okay. Maybe next time you can see my room," before going back to playing in the grass.
She tugged at my hand, looking up at me with those blue eyes of hers, "Can I go?" I opened my mouth to answer her but she squealed, yanking my hand again. For a little girl, her grip was stronger than I thought it could be. "Oh, look, Daddy!" She pointed a finger at the squirrels chasing each other by the trees. "Can I go? Can I go? Can I go?"
I laughed and let go of her hand, "Don't get too close and don't run off too far. I want to still be able to see your water head, yeah?"
She stopped and looked at me with a bright smile before grabbing both sides of her somewhat big head, "You gave it to me!"
And with that, she took off across the field, laughing and screaming with both of her arms moving about in the air. I chuckled to myself and sat the picnic basket down on the ground, taking the blanket from it and stretching it out across the perfectly green grass. Birds chirped from their trees and I listened to their song—although it was slightly inaudible due to Amira's loud screaming from across the field. She plopped down on her knees and started picking the flowers around her, placing one behind her ear as she continued her mission.
I laid out all the contents from the basket on the blanket. To make sure this day was perfect, I learned how to make lemonade on my own. The first few tries were not as successful as I had hoped they would be but with constant practice, I was finally able to make the beverage for us to enjoy today. I sat Amira's butterfly cup next to my glass and popped a green grape into my mouth, chewing on it as I laid out the turkey sandwiches. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out, rolling my eyes at the caller ID.
As soon as I answered, he spoke, "Where's Amira Amira on the Wall?"
"Ha ha, very funny. Her name is just Amira, asshole."
"Same thing."
"Greysen."
"Fine," he laughed. "Where's Amira?"
"It's Tuesday."
"Yes, Tuesday is the second day of the week. What the fuck is that supposed to mean to me?"
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, "You know Amira and I have lunch out in Riverline Park on Tuesdays until she starts going to school this fall."
YOU ARE READING
Candles
Fanfiction[C O M P L E T E D ✓] They were curious. They both had their own share of secrets. He was a man living in the present. She was a woman living in the past. He was a candle, ready to see everything she was keeping in the dark. And she was the w...