Penny for your Thoughts?

Chapter Five

Despite popular opinion, I really like the rain. It's comforting. Makes it easier for me to fall asleep at nights. Though I suppose when I was younger I really didn't like it. Along with thunder, which I now enjoyed listening to as well.

I don't remember when my opinion changed. It could have been recently in fact. It could have been when I was looking through memories. Something I saw during one might have changed it. Maybe it was in one of my own. But I suppose that all doesn't matter.

I like the rain.

Bryce did too, I realized.

"Ugh. Our day is ruined." I groaned. I spent two hours preparing the picnic basket for Bryce and I. We were supposed to enjoy a day at the park, but despite all the weather reports it still rained. Why on this day when I finally managed to get time off? "This is horrible." I pressed the side of my face against the window. Uncharacteristically pouting. Maybe because it wasn't me.

Bryce was moving around behind me as I stared at the falling rain. "Rain is wonderful. The heavens are blessing us with their tears." He said, and started listing off facts about how it helped the environment. "Yes, but not on a picnic. I'd rather not have my dress get all wet and muddy." I also spent quite a few hours looking pretty for this picnic, making me disappointed all the more. "Rain is perfect for a picnic day." I turned, confused at how joyful he sounded. That's when I saw what he had been working on behind my back.

He had pushed all the furniture back, and piled blankets upon blankets on the wood floor to make it soft and comfortable. He left a green one on the top. "Grass." He stated with a grin, as he started surrounding it with pillows. "Flowers," he explained, "I just don't have floral cases." Hurriedly, he lit some candles and turned down the lights. "And... fireflies. It's just about everything we'd have outdoors. Minus the pesky bugs and um... nature noises. But I could fix that if you want me to google something. The noises. Not the bugs." I chuckled.

He sat down on the blankets and patted the place beside him. "Who needs the outdoors when you've got imagination? Sorry its not exactly what you wanted though. I know how much you wanted to go out today." "It's perfect, Bryce." Because all I really needed was him. Nothing else.

I wondered if this was going to become a habit if I didn't lock these memories away. From the park clock I realized I had dazed off for about twenty minutes. It killed time, but I wondered if it was healthy to dwell on him for so long.

Probably not.

The sounds of splashing alerted me to look up. A person was walking up to the gazebo, holding a black umbrella. He reminded me of Bryce. Hair color, eye color, even his glasses were the same. But his hair was longer than his and he had a bushy beard. His clothes were a tad ragged too, making me wonder if he was a homeless person. I realized that I actually thought he looked similar to Bryce. I bet a leaf would start to look like him if I stared long enough.

"Do you have the time?" Goodness, he even sounded like Bryce. "Two forty." I replied, glancing at the park clock that he hadn't noticed until I looked at it. "Oh... right... thanks." He shrugged before taking a seat on another bench. He leaned back and stretched his legs out. Like Bryce usually did after a long walk. I was staring at him now. I wasn't going insane, was I? Could this guy be Bryce? Couldn't be... Bryce's hair wasn't that long. He didn't have a beard. He didn't look as tired and lonely as this man.

I remembered then. It was like I met Bryce yesterday, because that was when I gained Violet's memories. But she had been in a coma for two months.

This was Bryce.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. I was actually meeting him. In the flesh. But I felt like I had known him forever. The only thing stopping me from embracing him was the unfamiliarity in his eyes. I was a stranger. I had to remember that. "Not at all. You just remind me of someone." The lie slipped out easily. It's not something to be proud of, but I'm a pretty good liar.

"Oh. Hope it's someone you like." He smiled. I thought it would make my heart stop... but this smile was weak. Forced. It was like he had all his energy drained out of him. He turned away to watch the rain. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" He asked wistfully. Probably not expecting an answer.

I gave him one anyway.

Swallowing my nervousness I spoke, "Very. The heavens bless us with theirtears." I didn't exactly plan to repeat something he's said, but at least it drew his attention. "Hey, that's what I usually say!" He sounded amazed, rather than angry. Of course he would, unless he somehow knew that I knew.

I expected him to start up a conversation, maybe saying something cheesy like: "Fate brought us together to be friends!" But instead he pretty much ended it with: "Makes you want to share the moment with someone you love." He stood up then. It was as if he was telling me that I wasn't that one.

Well, of course I wasn't. He didn't know me.

"I should get going. Have a good day, miss." Before I could stop him he was already walking out of the gazebo with his umbrella raised over his head. Made me wish that I wasn't wearing something so simple. Maybe then he would have stayed with me, if I was something worth looking at. No. Of course not. Bryce wasn't so vain. But he would have offered me an umbrella wouldn't he? As I recalled, he always took an extra cheap umbrella for such occasions, being the kind gentleman that he was.

I looked at the bench he sat on, and true to my-- Violet's-- memory, a cheap umbrella was left on there.

I was tempted to go chase after him then... but... what would I say? There wasn't anything I could say. He had changed. Not just his appearance... it was as if his spirit was gone.

With the umbrella in hand I left the gazebo and headed home.