Summer Night Lights

The silence hung between Sam and Cassie like a soft canopy that had dipped to fill the space.  They had parked their car in front of the children's park, overlooking the pond at around midnight. The park was deserted at this time of night.  Fireflies and crickets were the only creatures left to roam the park.  Cassie hadn't spoken for the 30 minutes they had been parked.  After the first 10 minutes, Sam had rolled the windows down to air out the car.  A soft breeze wafted through the windows, blowing her jet black hair across her face.  He glanced over at her.  Her fringe cast a shadow over her eyes but Sam could still tell that her eyes were bloodshot.  He could tell by her shallow breaths that she was trying not to cry anymore.  He could tell by the rhythmic tapping of her fingers against her knee that she was far from okay. 

"Losing people sucks." She whispered through trembling lips.

"I know."

"I just wanted more time."

"I know, Cassie."

"I mean, I knew she was sick," She sucked her breath in, reaching her hands up to brush away the stray strands of hair that had wrapped themselves around her cheeks. "And I knew the chemo was taking a toll on her... But-" Her voice broke and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"But it still sucks."

"So much," She whimpered, as Sam reached over to place his hand on top of hers. "Barb was so great, you know?" Her eyes welled with tears, before breaking to cascade down her cheeks. "She was like my second mom growing up."

"Tell me about her?"

A smile broke onto her face for the first time that night. "She was sassy as hell," Her smile grew wider, making room for her dimples. "I remember being a little kid and thinking I wanted to have just an ounce of her spunk."

"You have grown into quite the sassy lady." Sam smiled along with her, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand lightly.

"My parents used to take us down to Skip and Barb's lakehouse every summer," Her smile slipped off her face as the memories came flooding back to her. "They would take us tubing on the lake."

"I don't think I could picture you on a tube."

"Well," She let out a soft chuckle, " I definitely wasn't great at it. I actually kinda hated it.  I hated going fast after a bad wipe out." She scrunched up her nose in disgust. "I smacked against the water which left a nasty welt on my back."

"Oof," He mimicked her facial expression, reliving the pain with her. "That doesn't sound pretty."

"Barb was always understanding of me and my, uh, traumatic tubing incident. She always drove the boat slower so I wouldn't wipe out."  He lips trembled again. "She was always looking out for me."

"It sounds like she really loved you."

"I really loved her, too." She lifted her head to look over at Sam, tears slipping out of the corners of her eyes again.  She held his gaze for a second before shifting it to look forward.  She looked out past the windshield and into the park.  The jungle gym and swing set in the distance cast a dark shadow on the patches of grass in front of their car.  Her eyes caught flashes of light from the fireflies in the darkness.  She focused on the way they twinkled in the distance. Blinking in and out of existence before her eyes.  It all seemed too fitting. She pushed the car door open and made her way into the park.  The rickety gate creaked as she pushed it open.  She trudged over the mulch beneath her feet, each step leaving a crunching sound.  She stood in the open space in front of the swing-set.  She was surrounded by the twinkling of the fireflies.  She reached out and waved her fingers through the air, gently pushing the fireflies out of the way.  Sam had walked up behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder.  Cassie spun around to look at him.