Always

Daigan walked gracefully through the meadow.His feet crunched the dead yellow path of grass he had made from coming here so many times. He followed the path until it came to an end, and found what he was looking for. A giant oak tree stood above him. It still looks the same he thought. The sun was hitting it just right. The tree's huge shadow cast over most of the meadow, shading it from the harmful sun.

He remembered when he and she used to look out at that meadow, and talk about how beautiful it was. In the past it had held pink and blue flowers peaking just above the grass. The smell was so sweet you could taste it and bees and butterflies would roam around buzzing and flying, making the meadow look like something out of a Disney cartoon. Looking at the meadow now you would never think it could have held such beauty, but oh it could.

Maybe it will rain he thought. As he looked to sky, he saw that there wasn't a cloud in sight, just a mass of blue with the sun shining in its center. It hadn't rained in months. Not since the accident. He took one last look at his old tree, their old tree, and reluctantly walked away.

He walked on and on until he made it to her house. Tanner was running around outside with Miles, his dog. He was trying to get Miles to play fetch, but he wouldn't move.

“You see this boy, you see this?”he asked the old retriever. Miles glanced at him barley noticing the stick in his hand.

“You ready? Go get it!”he said while throwing it. The dog didn't even flinch. Tanner sighed.

“Alright, I give up let's go inside.” He walked towards the front door of the pale blue house. Miles got up suddenly happy and trailed right behind him.

Now's my chance. Daigan thought. He walked behind the boy and his dog and followed them into the house.

As Tanner walked up the stairs to his room Daigan kept on walking until he found her room. Her door was shut. Damn it. He thought. As he turned around to leave he found that Miles had sneaked up on him. He growled at him then started barking. Loud.

“Miles, what's wrong?” he heard a voice through the door ask. He would know that voice anywhere. He heard a drawer close followed by the shuffling of feet coming to the door. All this time Miles continued to bark wildly.

“Miles, for God's sake, what are you barking at?!” the door suddenly was yanked open, silencing Miles. There she stood.

She was wearing gym shorts and one of his old shirts he must have left before. Her long brown hair covered most of her face as she stuck her head farther out the room. She looked left and right then straight at him. Gosh, she's perfect. He thought as her eyes dropped to his stomach.

“There's no one here, Miles,” she said as she started to move back into the room.

Daigan rushed past her before she closed the door. He walked to the window and leaned against the wall. Everything was exactly the way he remembered it. There were pictures of friends, family, and him taped all over the purple walls. Her bed was perfectly made like always and all of her stuffed animals were lined up on the shelf above it. He looked at her then and wished for just five minutes to be able to talk to her.

I would give anything. He thought. Anything.

He watched her as she walked to her bed and laid down on her side, facing away from him. She leaned over to her dresser drawer, opened it, and pulled out a piece of paper. He couldn't see what it was so he walked around her bed to get a better look.

He knelled down next to the bed right in front of her. Tears were streaming down her face as she gazed at the paper. It was a newspaper clipping. The clipping of his obituary. Reality set in as he sank to the floor wanting to cry but knowing that he couldn't. You can't cry when you're dead.

He thought back to the night of the accident.

There was a party. A big one. She wanted to leave. Daigan always did what she wanted. That's what you do when you love someone right? They walked to his car and he told her he wanted to drive.

“It's my turn,”he jokingly said. She smiled and looked at him.

“I don't care, I wanna drive. You can drive next time,”she playfully punched him in the shoulder. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. His hand slid up her neck and cupped her cheek.

“OK, but you have to kiss me first,”he whispered as he leaned in.

Their lips fit like puzzle pieces. He pulled back and looked deep into her brown eyes.

“I love you,” he said. He paused “Always.” She smiled remembering the first time he had said that to her.

“And I love you,”she answered. “Always.” She pulled away and got into the drivers seat while he got into the passenger seat. They held hands as the car cruised down the highway. Everything that happened next was a blur.

She ran a stop sign and a truck hit the passenger side. The car skidded to the side and got hit by an oncoming car in the same spot, causing the car to flip. They held hands the whole time. When it finally stopped flipping she looked at him.

“Daigan! Daigan! Say something!”she screamed.

But he wasn't there. He was gone. The impact of the first car had crushed his ribs which pierced his lungs. He died as the car was flipping.

She turned and laid on her back, bringing Daigan back to reality. She grabbed a picture of them together off the dresser and brought it close to her face. She started crying hard.

“I'm so sorry,”she said as she sniffled. “It's my fault. It's all my fault. It will always be my fault!”she screamed.

Daigan stood up and sat on the opposite side of the bed. He had always hated when she cried, especially like this.

“I would give anything to have you back, to re-do that night.”she whispered as she put the picture back and put her face in her hands. She began to sob.

Outside a drizzle began to fall.

“Jane, I'm here. I'm right here.” Daigan said as he pushed himself next to her. She didn't hear him, but kept sobbing. He ran a hand threw his hair and tried to grab her hand, but he reached right through her. It frustrated him. He got up and stood next to the bed and started stomping his feet. It made a creaking noise but was covered by the drizzle outside turning to a heavy rain.

“Please hear me. I'm right here!” he shouted. She still didn't move. It thundered outside but neither of them noticed.

“Damn it!” He reached for the picture of them, but barely felt it. He concentrated and tried to push it with his finger.

Lightning flashed out side followed by the loud crack of thunder. Through it all, Daigan still tried to push the picture.

Please.

The picture shifted.

Please, God, please.

The picture slowly began to slide across the dresser making a scraping noise.

Jane picked up her head and turned it in the direction of the sound and was shocked to see the picture moving towards her. It looks like something's pushing it. She thought.

She looked at the area in front of the dresser.

“Daigan?” she asked.

“Always,” she heard him whisper.

She gasped and reached towards his voice, but felt nothing. The picture had stopped moving. She was suddenly aware of the rain falling outside. She looked at the window and watched the droplets of water slide down the pane of glass. A smile grew on her face.

“Always,”she whispered back.