Daydreams?

Chapter 5- Beloved

I heard the soft click of the door shutting, disrupting the late night noises of summer.

Fifteen minutes until I see Landon.

I heard the soft noises of trees swaying with the wind, barely audible against the crickets and other creatures of the night. Add in the noise of the harbor, the waves, the bridge lifting to let late night boats pass, and the occasional horn sounding off in the night, and it's a wonder anyone gets sleep in Charleston. I wish the world would just stop for a minute; one solid minute of haunting silence. It seems impossible to achieve true silence anymore, or any type of quiet really. Landon and I went to our small area to get away from idle noise sometimes. We created our own silence.

Five minutes to see Landon.

"Are you excited?" My newest friend of the imagination asked.

"What are you doing here?" The tall figure towered over me, but what could it do to it's creator?

"Living my possible last moments." He clutched his chest, letting a tear slip through before he laughed.

"These are your last moments. I know that Landon is alive." I smirked, thinking he would disappear.

"Well it looks like someone is in denial." He patted my head as we reached the street corner.

"Am not!" I argued, feeling defensive even though he was right.

"You know I'm right. I am a figment of your imagination. I know what you're thinking." I scoffed, rolling my eyes as we both leaned up against a vacant building.

"Fine." I agreed, looking at my watch.

2:45 bared in digital numbers.

Max is fifteen minutes late. Where's Landon? Would Max lie to me? I waited,  fear and anger rising in me. Where is he?

At 3:00 I gave up. Max had lied to me. I guess that's what I get for trusting someone I just met. The tears slowly and gently rolled down my face, but I wiped at them as if they were acid. They didn't hurt really, but the pain inside felt like a burning poison was rushing through my veins.

I eventually ended up at the graveyard. Again. I passed several graves, some terribly old and some sickeningly new. One simply was engraved: Beloved. It had no names or dates to proclaim. It simply stated that the person buried there was beloved. It may not say much to passers-by but that one word spoke volumes to me.

Landon's grave was still the same. The words were still engraved there, the dates never changing. I sat down, wishing the elderly man would come back. Sometimes, it feels like he's the only one who will understand this pain.

I picked up a small stone, partially buried in the dirt, and tossed it at Landon's gravestone. I wish it would just dissipate into thin air.

The small stone didn't make my wish come true, but it did make me notice something. It was something I wouldn't have noticed if I had simply sat here, wallowing in my own pity and sorrow. The box of letters was open, but the box intact. How could this happen? To get in you need a key to match it's lock. Only Landon and I possess that key.

Realizing this, I stood up, rushing to the box. Nothing about the lock seemed damaged, and all of the letters were gone. I picked the box up, turning it over. A letter fell out.

Alice was written on the envelope in an all too familiar handwriting. Landon had written this letter.