Willowcliffe

Cheri

Black-eyed Susans were her favorite flowers. She liked how they were simple and understated, and the dramatic contrast of the black middle and yellow petals. She wasn't one for flashy flowers, she hated the ones from grocery stores that were dyed to look like a rainbow. She hated big, flouncy petals, and thorns on the stems. She liked something that was to-the-point, but still had beauty. And now, they were littered around the memorial. 

It was a beautiful Monday afternoon. The sun was just peaking behind clouds so fluffy they looked like cotton candy. Seagulls flew above, cackling, enjoying the cool breeze from the lake water. If it weren't for the rustling of the leaves, Cheri could almost hear the waves crashing on the shores of the cliff from here. A day so beautiful should have been a celebration in the park. There should be picnics of families, children screaming on playgrounds, joggers waving at dog-walkers, a faint smell of grilled hotdogs. It was as if Mother Nature was mocking the citizens of Willowcliffe today. Who could possibly have a blissful afternoon on a day like this? 

Cheri shut her eyes for a moment, allowing the wind to fill her lungs. She was growing thirsty; her mouth was dry and her throat was sore from the constant talking of the past twenty-four hours. She opened her eyes slowly, looking onto the makeshift memorial. With the flowers, there were candles, teddy bears, and homemade cards from the town's citizens. Everything was surrounding a photo of Taylor Burnside like a Christmas wreath. It was beautiful to Cheri in a homemade way. 

Her eyes were averting the center of the memorial, she was avoiding it like she would try to avoid a car crash on the highway. It was too tempting to not look away in a sick and twisted way. Finally, she forced herself to look the photo of Taylor Burnside in the eye. It was a picture of her from her graduation, a maroon robe over a black and white floral dress. Her sister had curled her hair, which fell around her collarbone. Cheri fought with everything in her power to think of Taylor in this way, and not the way she was found. She was a pretty and energetic young girl with her whole life in front of her. She was avoiding the picture of her pale skin, her hair tangled and chopped, the tree branch covered in blood--

She felt like she was drowning. Cheri tried taking deep breaths, but the pleasant summer breeze felt more like cold water filling her lungs than anything else. She needed water desperately, her mouth was so dry she could feel every taste bud on her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth. Her hands felt like she cut off their circulation hours ago, and she was waiting for her fingers to turn blue. Her breaths began to sound more like sobs. Not here, she thought, anything but here. 

Cheri felt a gentle touch on her elbow, grounding her back in her body. "Cheri?" Owen whispered quietly enough so no one would hear them. "You okay?" 

Cheri forced herself to swallow nothing. "Yeah, I... I'm fine," she said. "Just isn't easy." 

"You need to step away for a moment?" He didn't have a tone of understanding, it sounded more like a formality than anything to Cheri. 

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah." Cheri pardoned herself from the swarm of villagers huddled around the memorial, careful not to bump into anyone's candles. 

She squeezed past Joe, who was looking slightly green, and Jeremy, who was the one to the scene and who first saw Taylor's body. Cheri placed a hand on Veronica, the receptionist at the station, while scooting past her. She walked past Alyx Stanton, who worked with Taylor and had eyes glued shut from her puffy tears. Drake Wei, Taylor's boss, stood solemnly with his hands cupped in front of him like he was praying. Rhiannon Harris was sobbing silently into her hands, shaking like a leaf. Manny Rodriguez, Lola de Leon, and DeMarkus Hardy, more coworkers, stared on blankly, like they were on a completely different universe. Tobias Ault Jr., her friend since birth, swayed slightly in his spot, smelling of beer. His father, Tobias Ault Sr., put a firm hand on his shoulder to steady him. Willis Kraft, the man with the cane who found her body, was looking only at the sky, observing the birds that flew by. Saoirse O'Donnell and Tam Reichert were huddled next to each other, whispering, "How could this happen to such a nice mother?" Cheri didn't dare make eye contact with Helena and Becka Burnside.