Remembrance Day Story
"This is where Mommy and Daddy are!" The little girl exclaimed as she walked among the sea of stone. Red flowers everywhere amid the graves. Her teal hair, tied in teal pigtails, flowed as the wind swept by them.
She examined each cross carefully, kneeling before each one. She knelt and looked at the grave in front of her and noticed the red flowers growing near.
"Ni-chan! What are these?" She called to her older brother, her eyes never leaving the blossoms.
He appeared next to her. "Poppies. They represent the blood that was shed by the heroes who fought for our safety." The wind picked up and once again, the little girl's hair was sent toward the sky.
She looked up toward him, then back to the flowers. She touched the left side of her chest as she thought.
After a short moment, she shot to her feet and raced to the opposite side of the cemetery.
The boy was stunned at the sudden movement, but did nothing to make that apparent. She stopped to read the engraved words on the occasional cross, until she stopped in-between two and looked at them intently.
She was silent. She knelt on her right knee, and then lowered her left so she was sitting. The only movement that she made was to bow her head, and raise her arms so they were by her chest.
Her hands clapped once and her head lowered more, as if it was on the ground.
After a few minutes she clapped her hands again and her head rose. She reached to the left of her chest and took the red flower that rested upon it.
She wore a poppy every year, even without knowing why.
With the poppy in her hands, she lowered her arms and placed the needle into the ground.
She rose to her feet and looked at the pair of graves in front of her. Then, she looked toward the rest of the yard of graves, finally understanding the meaning behind that day.
People have told her why you should wear poppies in November, but she never understood exactly why.
Now she knew.
The blue-haired boy stared at her from a few meters away, taken aback by her gesture. A small smile appeared on his face, which was accompanied by a small drop of moisture from his eye.
They both stood, neither of them moved. Neither of them spoke.
The girl's hair ties snapped and her long, teal hair batted around freely above her head.
The boy's blue scarf, which was wrapped around his neck, slowly loosened itself and was carried away by the wind, almost as if it was being offered to the sky.
The girl turned around and padded slowly toward her brother.
"Ready to go?" He asked her. She nodded her head in response. He took her hand and they walked away from the depressing area.
As they walked away, the boy couldn't stop himself from looking back.
As he did so, he could have sworn he saw the glimpse of their departed parents.
He could have sworn he saw a glimpse of the past.
~~~Lest we Forget~~~