Perfect Afternoons

Milleven~May 2018

        Prompt:

       "Milleven,

       Person A has died, been on a long trip or has been gone for an extended period of time. When they come back, somehow, they hold each other for hours, literally hours, when they finally separate even the smallest of distances, A the calm, cool and collected one, bursts into tears which B wipes away with the sleeve of their sweater and places a chaste kiss to their forehead and whispers, 'You have no idea how much I missed you.'"

     Mike's POV...

       15 months. 15 months without seeing her face. The face that had nearly saved me and then it  had all gone without a trace.

       I looked down at my worn white converse and the frayed edges of my jeans, imperfect. Dirty, tarnished just like my life without El. It had been more than a year and everyone else had gotten the hell over it so why couldn't I? Dustin had, Lucas had, Will had never met her but the empathy fr the rest of the group had long since worn off. I raked my hand through my brown curls and continued on my walk home from school watching the dust from the road swirling around my ankles. I pulled my backpack higher onto my shoulders and continued to my house which my eyes were firmly set on barely  a hundred meters away.

        The door swung open with little force and I flung my backpack down on the carpet next to the stairs and unintentionally stormed into the basement. I felt like boiling water was pouring into my eyes, they stung with unshed tears threatening to flood down onto my cheeks. As I crashed onto my basement couch the tears finally took control again. My face was wet with loss and heartbreak. Though I was only 15 and this all seems more dramatic than anything, I truly felt the integral part of me that I was lacking.

       I took all the energy left in my body to stem the tears flowing down my face only to glance at an old Polaroid photo of El and me and felt the burning tears slice down my face yet again. The pain was something I was accustomed to though, it all went numb very quickly and I just sat there wallowing for what could've been an hour. My routine was soon over though, and I figured I'd make a start at the homework burning a hole in my backpack.

Biology was easier said than done however and I found myself checking our textbook for almost every section of the review sheet. Minutes ticked by slower than molasses as I trudged through my load of homework. Question by question, segment by segment. By 7 o'clock at night I had finally finished my History paper that was due last Friday and I decided to call it a night. I turned on the TV and laid back on the couch. I was never a fan of the news but it was really the only channel that got reception in our basement.

"The weather for this week should be very warm considering our usual highs here in Indiana. High 90s even." The newscaster said with a fake enthusiasm dripping from his lips. "And now, we'll pass it to Emily for our unsolved case of the night."

"Thank you Henry. Tonight we will be talking about the Jane Ives case. About 15 years ago a baby was stolen from a woman called Terry Ives, though Terry has been diagnosed with a form of psychosis and is unable to appear tonight her sister reported that the child's name is Jane." The second news reported paused and looked to her left slightly before resuming this report on so called 'Jane Ives'. "Jane will be 15 years old this October but has also been missing for over 14 years so the case has been closed." I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

Listening to missing persons reports only worsened my longing for El. I decided to brush it off and try to sleep. It was after all a Friday night and I could sleep down in the basement with the television on for white noise. I pulled the thin blanket off the back of the couch and rolled into a more comfortable position. I started to drift off to sleep and felt weights pulling me down into the soft sofa.

       After 3 minutes of an uncomfortable semi-consciousness a loud crackle snapped me out of my partial slumber followed by a deep blackening of my surrounding. I smelt a sort of burning plastic and a faint flowery smell which could've only come from outside in my mother's well tended garden. I sat up quickly and whipped my head around to see the sliding glass doo ajar and a dark silhouette standing in the door's frame.

       "U-uh wh-who's there?" I asked a slight quaver in my voice. I swallowed thickly willing this to all be some kind of bad dream.

       "Mike?" A gentle and slightly trembling voice spoke quietly. And it all came rushing back. The soft feel of her skin under my fingertips the calm that swept over me when she was with him. The warmth that spread through every blood vessel in my body. All the memories they had together. My feeling of protection and love he felt for that girl. That girl who had taken over my entire life since last summer.

        "El! Is it really you?" I said not believing my own ears.

       "Yes. Yes, I'm back." I sprang from the couch when the moonlight hit her face. The glint reflecting out of her chocolate brown eyes and shining of her curly hair. I wrapped my arms around her shivering torso and pulled her inside and onto the couch. I laid down on the couch with her body on top of mine. Never once letting her leave my arms. Because I was right, because she wasn't dead, she came back! I felt tears well up in my eyes again but this time I didn't care. This time I let them fall, they streamed down my face freely soaking my own curls and the top of El's head. Her head fit on my chest like a puzzle piece, I felt complete for the first time in months. 

       "Mike why are you sad?" El said her voice full of concern. I glanced up at her face and smiled through my watery eyes.

        "El, no I'm not sad, I'm not sad at all. I'm so happy right now. So happy to see you. I don't know what to do with myself at all." I took a deep and wavering breath. "El I missed you so much." I couldn't find anymore words to say and I closed my eyes slowly.

       "Mike... I love you." I felt a shy kiss pressed on my lips and then pressure on my chest where El put her head. We were safe.