Dating the Dead • lrh

12. sunrise

"Wow."

My eyes were wide and my mouth was agape. I have never seen anything like it. There aren't enough words to justify what I was seeing.

We were on top of a hill overlooking an apple orchard. The same one we walked through to get here. The sky was a mix of colors: bright hues of yellow emerging from the horizon for the new day slowly replacing the dark blue from the night before.

Sunlight bathed the treetops, the roof of the mansion in the middle of the orchard, and soon, everything. I closed my eyes, smiling as I breathed in fresh air and coffee. My head turned to see Harper sipping from a flask, his crossed legs cradled a McDonald's paper bag.

Shelby was standing a few feet from us, her arms outstretched, her head to the sky and her eyes closed. Harper caught me looking, "She always do that."

"I can hear you, Happy." Shelby approached the picnic and grabbed a flask slightly bigger than Harper's and handed it to me. "Here, I hope it's still warm."

I accepted it, inhaling the sweet smell of cocoa. "Thanks." I brought the flask to my lips and gulped the warm drink.

"Save me some," she said and I heard a shutter sound. I lowered the flask and Shelby took another photo. She smiled at her camera's screen while I stood staring at her. "I'm sending these to your mum," she said, handing the camera to Harper.

"Why?" I asked as she snatched the flask from me.

She drank the rest of the cocoa with one gulp and she eyed me dangerously after she set it down in the basket. A smile crept up her lips and then rushed next to me. "Happy, take a photo of us please."

Harper set his burger down as he stood up, holding the camera to his eye. I watched Shelby's smile get wider and then she stared up at me.

"Look at the camera, Luke," she said, returning her attention forward. I grinned at her before smiling at the lens. When Harper said he took enough, Shelby actually jumped. "I can finally wipe my cocoa mustache."

My hand shot to the space between my nose and lips and felt sticky cocoa on it. I was going to chase her when she turned to the orchard's direction and squealed. I turned to Harper to say something but he spoke first.

"She does that, too," he took a quick sip from his seeming endless supply of coffee, watching Shelby tumbling and cartwheeling on the grass.

She ran towards us and dragged me, spinning me around. "Why are we doing this?" I asked when we rolled over, my head ended up on her stomach.

Instead of answering me, she started laughing. My head bouncing on her stomach made me laugh as well. When we stood up because our sides hurt, we were practically wheezing for much needed air.

Harper approached us like a coat stand, but instead of coats, he was carrying the basket in one hand, Shelby's bag over his shoulders and the camera slung around his neck. "The orchard's open," he said.

Shelby took the basket from him and tugged my sleeve. "Come on, lets go pick some apples."

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