An accidental meeting has their hearts running.
Shailene is stuck at a hospital. Her father was supposed to pick her, but it's dark now, and he hasn't arrived yet.
Ryan has come at the hospital for his regular treatment. He finds about her problem...
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From her sore back and stiff neck she concluded that she had been slept for hours. A glance at the clock on the bedside table told that it was afternoon. Getting up, she opened the blinds and the afternoon sun tortured her sleepy eyes.
After a perfunctory shower, she changed into clean clothes and rushed headlong down the stairs. Her stomach was roaring since she got up. Crystal was busy talking to someone on the phone, so Shailene went towards the kitchen to hydrate herself.
Not draining time, Crystal made a beeline for the kitchen. Words that followed her arrival were in as much hurry as she was.
"Sorry, dear. We can't go out today. I have to go to a meeting. I recently started working with an NGO and I have to go. It's urgent."
In those words Shailene witnessed her fragile plans break. Last night she had planned to wander her hometown with her mother and now she heard the clangs in her heart when ire and dismay clashed.
"No problem. I understand." Words sped down her tongue.
Crystal tasted disappointment in her daughter's tone. Like her daughter, she too wanted to catch up on lost times, but she didn't want to drench her words in sympathy. At length, she said, "Don't you feel sad. We have a whole month to ourselves," a pause, "And I've made pasta for you."
Crystal kissed her daughter's forehead which insinuated the former's exit. Shailene ate pasta while watching T.V. After washing the plate, she went into the family library. She sat on the ottoman facing the floor-to-ceiling window that commanded a view of the sun-drenched backyard.
She picked up a book and sat back to read, but couldn't. The book was a mere escape from the thoughts that swarmed her and she knew it. She was too afraid of the suffering which was a product of those memories.
These wistfully precious memories reminded her of the dent in their fate. Until the arrival of Crystal, Shailene was occupied to untangle herself from the web of malaise. She treaded wisely on the ledge beneath which were the blues. She weaved a beautiful pattern of the souvenir pruning the sadness away.
In the evening, Shailene went out with her parents. They were supposed to go for a movie and a dinner, but Shailene cancelled the plan for movie.
"Why?" Crystal asked.
"Let's go somewhere else," responded Shailene.
"Where else?" Her dad asked.
"I know just the place. I'll navigate you."
The familiar paths welcomed her with amenity. Those alleys were the witness of the immortal times. These tracks were imprinted with the steps of two lovers.
A pearl sheened in her half-tormented eyes. It tore apart and slugged down her face. As her dad put the car into parking brake, so did she to her silent tears.
Crystal turned around and noticed the damp face of Shailene. She wanted to say something, but was interrupted-
"Why are we on a stranded beach, Shay?" Asked Jimmy.
"It appears deserted and gloomy here, but crossing through this area," she pointed toward a wall of trees, "you will see the most wonderful sight." The tips of her mouth peaked higher and higher until they were at equal lengths to the tip of her nose.
Jimmy smiled rather fondly. "It seems, judging from your smile, that there is actually a treasure on the other side."
"There always is," she said, dazzled.
As they got off the car, Crystal thought it better not to bring the topic back on the table. Then she thought if it was because she was dreading the conversation? But pushed the thought away.
Through the dirt track, they went. The only noise to be heard was the wind breathing through the trees and chirping of the birds. Time seemed to come at halt for Jimmy and Crystal, but for Shailene it flew backwards.
There came the glint of a light before appeared the dipping sun. Its rays shone at full brightness like beams of lasers. The dying sun resuscitated the times that Shailene and Ryan had lived. Shailene realized that this dying sun was and would always be the only witness of the love they nurtured; of the time they enjoyed. She realized that if she ever doubted those memories' veracity, she knew where to head to.
The journey to home was serene as she had finally dropped her miseries into that bottomless ocean. Or as she thought so...
Later that night, Shailene's room's door was rapped. She told that it was open and in came her mother. Her eyes looked wise and her face glowed with the luminosity of the sermon she was going to drop at her daughter's mind.
For a few moments, silence and the exchange of awkward smiles were the only interaction between them. Crystal felt rather nervous than she appeared with. Her mouth felt dry like a desert. She seemed to have run out of saliva until-
"I know it's hard for you to deal with his absence."
Crystal's words didn't surprise Shailene because they were already anticipated. Still, it was hard for her to speak about him with someone. Words were fluid and easy in her mind, but on her tongue they felt stingy and heavy. To Shailene, Ryan's absence felt like starting a new life over again. It felt like her rebirth.
That night she had wept in the most tender arms of the world with a realization that sometimes it favored to be in the arms of your benevolent to shield yourself from the rough blows of fate.
