Come Home.

I remember his voice. His tears, his smiles, his laughs.

The way he would run, jump, play.

I remember his face. His dimples, his freckles, his nose.

I remember his mind. His poems, his stories, his love.

I remember his voice.

“Emmie, do you think Daddy will like it?”

I swing back and forth. my legs pumping hard. Eden kicks his wildly, and groans when he doesn’t budge.

“Of course he will.”

I jump off my swing and give him a push. He smiles, and his hair flies back onto his face. As he begins to slow down, he pulls the poem out of his pocket.

Eden’s words are amazing, everything he says, so beautiful, so pure. The poem is printed in tiny writing on soft, tan lined paper. He sighs. I grab the chains of his swing, and I lean over him. I touch my nose to his, and I whisper to him.

“He’ll love it, Ede, don’t worry.”

He grins.

“I know.”

I kiss his forehead.

The sky is blue. Blue’s his favorite color. I have my first day of school today. I’m not excited in the slightest. Starting at a new school is never good. When I moved here, everyone was already told about me, and my family. Now everyone knows who I am. Never mind blending in, then.

I wrap my scarf around my neck. It’s always cold here, even in September. I miss Kentucky. I miss home.

 I drag my feet across the sidewalk, making a scrape, scrape noise. I see the bus stop up ahead. People turn to stare at me.

Apparently they think I can’t see or something.

God, people.

The bus rolls down the hill, screeching and steaming. It smells like shit. I hate buses. I hate the noise, the smell, the people. I stick my headphones in my ear and crank up the music, as loud as it can go. I can’t hear anyone.

I’m alone.

“Emmie, Emmie, Emmie!” Eden pulls on my shirt and digs his feet into the dirt, stopping me from moving on. I turn around.

“What is it?”

He breathes in and out, slowly, slowly.

“Em-E-Emmie…this.” He hands me a coupon for two free Dairy Queen blizards. I stare at it. He tugs on my shirt.

“It’s expiring, Emmie!”

“When?”

“Now!”

And so we run down to the Dairy Queen on Hilton Rd., and we order two Heath Bar blizzards, and the coupon crisis is solved.

“Baby beluga in the deep blue sea…”

I snap up.

No.

It couldn't be.

“Swim so wild and you swim so free…”

I shudder. I lean forward, and pull my covers over me. Hesitantly, I whisper out into the darkness.

“E-Eden?”

And I see him.

Out of the shadows, he appears, and he’s the same. His hair, golden brown, sticking out from his knit cap. His red winter coat, hanging off one shoulder. His mittens are tied through the sleeves. He’s not wearing them, they’re just dangling beside him. His face is pink at the cheeks, and his dimples are the same as they always were.

He’s smiling—he’s happy.

I start to cry. My God, I’m going crazy. I just know it.

“Eden, w-why are you…you’re…”

He just stares at me, still smiling, still beautiful.

“Eden, please…”

He opens his mouth, and sings.

“Heaven above and the sea below, and a little white whale, on the go…”

He starts walking backwards, blending in with the shadows.

“Eden! Eden, don’t go! Come back, Eden! Please!”

But he’s gone. I flop onto my back. I sing through my tears all night.

“Baby beluga in the deep blue sea…”