Evanescent

11

On the left stood a family of three, a father, mother, and daughter smiling at the camera with such sincerity Audelia felt her heart well up. The father stood a head taller than his wife, his hair a chocolate brown and his eyes the purest shade of green. His arms wrapped around his family almost as if he was shielding them away from the world. The women next to him's hair fell loosely over her shoulders, it's cherry red ringlets standing out against the blue sky. She brought tears to Audelia's eyes, the woman's smile enough to bring even the most cold hearted people to their knees. In between them stood a young girl, no older than 6, whose teeth were missing and whose red hair was a mess, yet she still grinned with her green eyes brightened by the sun's embrace. Their eyes were glimmering with a sense of hope she'd never seen, their love so pure it Audelia's finger went to the picture, trying to reach through and go to this moment where it seemed life was much simpler. She could imagine that moment almost as if she was there, her eyes shut and yearning to find the last piece of this never ending puzzle.

When her eyes drifted to the next picture time seemingly stopped as she quickly felt her lungs restrict and her heart beat furiously. There was the same little girl from the other picture, though a few years older, her hair longer and teeth no longer missing. She seemed to be laughing as she hunched over with her hands placed on her stomach and her eyes crinkled in the corners. Audelia could almost hear the laughter, her ears picking up the memory of a once beautiful melody. Standing next to the girl was a boy of the same age, his ebony hair cropped to his head and his brown eyes staring at the girl adoringly. He seemed to be laughing too, but not nearly to the extent of the girl, as he seemed to not realize someone was taking a photo. The boy brought on so many new memories that at one time seemed so far away, the familiarness of him drawing her closer.

"Rion." She whispered the first thing that came to her mind as she stared at the photo, trying to capture every detail.

"What?" Orion's face held raw disbelief as she uttered the word, his eyes lit up with hope. He took her hand in his, forcing her eyes to meet his as he held onto her with everything he had, almost as if trying to convince himself she was real. She looked into his eyes, the brown matching the boys and she finally came to a realization that made her hold onto him like he was all she had left.

"Rion, you're the boy," She smiled and looked at him for confirmation, her eyes wide as saucers, "My best friend, you're him." shook her to the core.