The Disappearance of Talia King

PART IX

DECEMBER 24th, 2010, 11:46 pm

HARRY, AGED 18

Simply sitting here, like this, reminds me just how much time has passed. It's an odd thing really, to look back at how long it has been since my days were brighter and so full of life and to think back to a time when she was still here. Somehow, she always had a way of being the light that shone through the darkness, a way of shining like no other person I knew. However, like everybody else, I could no longer thrive in her brightness.

Tiny, fragile flakes floated elegantly to the forest floor on the other side of the glass, adding to the blanket of snow that had fallen earlier in the night. I'd been sitting here for hours, just watching silently through the window as the icy weather enveloped my surroundings. I often did this now, merely watching the world function around me as time moved further and further out of my grasp. Time seemed to have left me behind completely, not caring if it was too hard for me to catch up, not caring if I was now lost in the darkness that my world seemed to have become. Life just wasn't the same when it didn't have her in it.

People often questioned me when I said that to them. They just didn't understand; they still don't understand. To them, my unconditional love for the girl that was no longer here was stupid. Like my parents, my friends also tried to get me to 'move on' but to me, the simple idea of my lips brushing against anyone else's but hers was repulsive. And yet, they continued these attempts to dull my feelings for someone I was adamant I had not lost forever, even if in their reality, I had lost her from the beginning. They'd never had the same trust and faith in her that I had. They never understood the true privilege that it was to be in her presence. They never loved her the way that I did, a love that could burn buildings to the ground. No, they never understood any of that. Maybe it was because they'd never felt that way about someone before, the way I felt about her. Or, maybe it was because they didn't believe how much I loved the girl with the long black hair and the dark, mysterious eyes. I guess I was never to know the reason why. They believed she had left me for good, whereas I somehow still had hope.

She may have erased herself from my sight but she could never take herself away from my memory. It was too late for that. Images of her still invaded my thoughts whenever they had the chance and I let them. Unlike everyone else she'd ever known, I didn't want to forget her. So, I let those memories of endless laughter, wide smiles, warm hugs, passionate kisses and of days when we would do nothing but sit peacefully in each other's presence overtake my mind. I hadn't lost hope despite the amount of time that was building up to fight against me. I wasn't going to allow the doubts to swell inside my mind, to kill the last ounce of faith I had left in her. I was going to prove everyone else wrong because it didn't matter about what they thought. What they wanted to believe was of no concern of mine and the amount of time that had passed had never mattered to me.

And as each small snowflake continued to fall from the dark heavens above, I realised that it never would.

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