The Little Stories

Red Heart Memories

        "Is this going to be a bad thing?" Hayden asked as he stared up at the yellow trees.

        "For a while." Emily's voice was tainted with a slight sadness. "But after that, it'll get better."

        Hayden sighed as if he'd known she would say something like that. On a normal day, Hayden would be chatting up a storm and Emily would just sit there next to him, just as she was now; but today isn't a normal day. He looked over at Emily. Her bright red hair looked like a wild fire on top of the dried out grass. Her odd blue eyes were upon the same yellow trees as his were. Emily glanced over at him. Hayden tensed up but refused to look away.

        "We sure have had some crazy times up here." Emily's lips tried to form a smile.

        "We sure have."

        "Like that time when we found that trash can lid and-"

        "And you thought it was an old shield from the knights of a great, far away land." Hayden chuckled.

        "Well you thought it was a part of an alien spaceship!" Emily grinned.

        "What about that time when you dared me to climb that tree?" Hayden pointed to one of the smaller trees that had a rotten, fallen branch.

        "Didn't you break your arm after that branch fell?"

        "YES! And then when I got a cast, you wrote 'I'm sorry' all over it to the point no one could sign it!"

        Emily broke out in little fits of laughter. "And then I tripped into a hole and I had to get a cast on my foot. All you wrote was 'Haha, this is karma'!"

        "It's a strong force indeed!" The two were consumed by laughter.

        Suddenly a strong gust of wind rustled through the trees, silencing their laughter. Hayden looks over at Emily, her whole body has turned to face him. He could see that her usually pale face was now red from the icy autumn breeze. They both wore thick jackets, but Hayden couldn't help but feel cold.

        Emily stared at Hayden for a few moments, yearning for time to stand still. "Hey, Hayden?"

        "Hm?" Hayden looked up at her with his brown eyes.

        "I was wondering if that... we..." Emily trailed off. Her eyes looked up and watched as a bright red leaf fluttered down just behind Hayden. She gasped. Emily got up on her knees and reached out for the leaf. The leaf landed into her palm. "I caught it!" She cheered, not realizing that she put her other hand on Hayden's side to support herself.

         Hayden turned to be on his back, causing Emily to fall onto on his stomach. After regaining the air in his lungs, he shouted, "What the heck are you doing, Emily?"

        Emily got back on her knees with a smile on her face. "I caught a leaf as it was falling though the air!"

        Hayden was not as amused as Emily was. "You really just sat on me to get a leaf?"

        "I didn't 'sit on you'." Emily rolled her eyes. "I used you as support."

        "Like that's any better." He mumbled.

        "Okay, I'm sorry. Now look at this leaf! Isn't it pretty?" Emily lifted the leaf up. It was a a bright shade of red with yellow vains.

        Hayden chuckled. "Funny." He took the leaf from her hand and put it up against her hair. "It almost looks the same." Emily's face lit up bright red too, but Hayden wasn't about to get hit in the arm.

        "Actually, um..." Suddenly, Emily's phone went off. Her shoulders slouched as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. She read the message and all of the color ran out of her face. Emily looked up at Hayden. "I'm so sorry Hayden." Before Hayden could react, Emily wrapped her arms around his neck. "There is so much I have to tell you! You don't know how much you mean to me!"

        Hayden watched as Emily started to panick. He could hear her trying to stop the tears from flowing. It broke his heart. His arms wrapped around her tiny figure. The one that didn't feel as warm as it used to be.

        "You have no idea how much you've changed me, Hayden. If you weren't here, I might not be able to go through with this." Emily wimpered out her words the best she could. 

        "It's going to be alright, Emily. Come on," Hayden stood up, carrying Emily in his arms. "We have to go back to your house." Emily tucked her head into his chest and closed her eyes, letting the tears roll down.

        They walked out of the yellow trees and ended up at the end of the road they lived on. As Hayden carried Emily, memories ran in flashs.

        The time that he pushed Emily into her birthday cake and how she laughed afterwards.

        When she liked a guy, causing him to get jealous.

        When she got dumped by her boyfriend and they decided to watch Disney movies all weekend.

        When their friends asked if Emily liked Hayden and she turned red, not knowing what to say.

        When he told her that he has liked her for a long time.

        When they went on their first date.

      When they went into the same forest they played in when they were little and shared their first kiss.

        When they slow danced for the first time.

        And then just a few days ago when Emily asked him to met her in the forest to tell him something.

        She had a failing heart. Meaning she needed a heart transplant. Meaning that she was going into a hosiptal far, far away from him. Today.

        Hayden tried not to cry, but this was breaking his heart. He carried Emily down to her house, where they had a car ready for Emily and her mother to drive. Both Hayden and Emily's mothers were waiting for them. "Hey, Emily?"

        "Hm?"

        "I will always love you."

        "So will I. Even if it's with a different heart." 

        Hayden chuckled and gave her a gentle peck on her head.

        "I can't believe they have to say goodbye." Hayden's mother said.

        "I think they will be alright." Emily's mother said with a confident smile.

        "Why do you think that?"

      "They love each other more than their hearts can stand, so even if they replace those hearts, their love still seems to over flow."