My Butterfly
"Hey Joe! Come over here! I found something real cool." Sirica yelled at me from the top of the hill.
"And how were you able to convince me to come out right after it stopped raining?" I asked. She smiled.
"Because you love me."
"You got me there."
She leaned down and brushed the dirt away from a perfectly shaped shell. I scratched my head.
"Why is a shell that should be on a beach all the way up here?"
"How should I know? Let's just assume a seagull was being picky and decided to drop it on this particular spot."
"Well then, let us give thanks to the gods who decided to make the seagull picky so he would drop it on this particular spot so a particular pair of people will find it." She picked up the shell and brushed away the last of the dirt, revealing a circle shaped hole in the back. In a moment of insight, I pulled a length of string from my back pocket and laced it through, knotting it at the ends. Handing it to her, she put it on her neck and twirled around, admiring the shells beauty.
"It's wonderful Joe. I love it! Thank you." She threw her arms around me, making me blush.
"It's nothing Sirica. Anyone else would have done the same thing."
"Yeah but not like the way you did." Thunder rumbled off in the distance, like it was trying to put more power behind her words. Several rain drops splattered my face.
"Come on, it's about to start raining again."
"Sirica?" I yelled. Smoke was pouring out the oven, and my girlfriend was nowhere to be found.
"Yes?" Came her faint reply.
"I don't think the oven likes your cooking!" By now, the entire kitchen had turned dark and hazy. She ran out of our bedroom and into the kitchen, waving a blanket around so she could get to the oven. Opening the door, she grabbed the pan holding our ruined cookies and ran through the living room, finally tossing them out the front window.
"Damn. Now I have to get a new pan, and get more ingredients so I can make more cookies!" She muttered. I wrapped my arms around her waist, inhaling the grapefruit scent of her hair and playing with her shell.
"I'll take you to the store if you need." I whispered soothingly.
"Okay. I'd like that."
We lay on the beach, side by side, looking out to the endless horizon.
"Joe? Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, Butterfly."
"Have you ever thought about having kids?" The question made my blush slightly.
"No, not really. With Nightmare and all the demon beasts-"
"But those are gone now! We have the entire future now to look forward to! Our kids wouldn't have to worry about being hunted or battling demon beasts anymore. You see, Joe, the future is like a blank notebook, just waiting for us to write our own story's."
I shrugged to show my indifference on the subject.
"Well, let's think about it before you go any more philosopher on me."
"Okay." She reached over and laced her hand in mine, while we both listened to the sound of the breaking waves and stared at the sunset.
One day we had decided that we both needed to get out of the house, so after a couple minutes of trading back insults over where we should go we simply decided to window shop in the downtown area. As my lover fawned over the nice and shiny things we could never afford with our house payments, I spotted a busy intersection up ahead. Grinning, I elbowed Sirica.
"Are you ready for a little game of truth or dare?" She turned with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.
"I dare you to…" She fingered her green bandana absentmindly in thought. "Try to go across that intersection during a green light!" I noticed now the intersection had fallen silent.
"Fine then." I ran up to the edge of the sidewalk and pretended to teeter on the edge. She came up to me and pushed me in the street, then crossed her arms over her chest.
"Get the hell out there, you damn pussy." She laughed. I stumbled, but was able to regain my balance. About halfway across, I turned to where I could see her and stuck my tongue out. A moment later, her eyes widened and she ran out towards me. There was a sound of someone trying to brake, and the squeal of tires. Just as she shoved me out of the way, the silver muffler smashed into her, throwing her into the air like the way a person would release a bird. A bright red arc of blood showed her path.
As she smashed into the asphalt, I automatically screamed before falling on my knees next to her and picking her up halfway off the ground, cradling her so I wouldn't hurt her anymore.
"Damn Sirica, I'm sorry for making you go through this and having me being a stupid ass and-" She put a finger on my mouth.
"Slow down, okay? There's a thing called oxygen out there, I think you should try it. And it's my fault for being a dipshit and daring you to go out in the middle of the intersection." She coughed blood down her chin and I reached forward to delicately wipe it away. Tears dropped onto her shirt, turning it a darker orange.
"But if I had just done it and got it over with, then none of this wouldn't have happened."
"Well, we can't be stuck in the past, or the mistakes we made. That's why we were given eyes in the front of our head. And Joe?"
"Yes?" I barely managed to choke out.
"Don't crash into anymore walls, okay? You have a real bad habit of doing that."
Then she kissed me full on the lips, letting me feel their warmth how they were slightly chapped, letting me taste the coppery metallic taste of blood, and deep down, the fading beat of her heart. My chest swelled until it strained with unshed sorrow and tears, while my mind burned with the effort of trying to remember every last detail; the way her hair was slightly mussed, the warmth of the night heavy with rain, the distant rumble of thunder, the pebbles littering the road cutting into my knees.
Then she pulled away from me, and settled her head on my heart.
"Joe, I love you."
"I love you to, Sirica."
Then she fell limp with a faint smile in my arms. At that moment the heavens opened, drenching me. I tipped my head back toward the clouds, screaming as my tears mixed with the rain.
It's been 12 years since then. I've grown older, and maybe a little wiser. Holding a rose, I silently approach the grave where she's buried, almost like if I'm too loud, it would shatter the peace. I already memorized where she lies, near the back, close to the mountains that she would look out over each morning at breakfast.
Slowly, I see her marker materialize over the last hill in the cemetery. Abandoning reason, I sprint towards the granite obelisk, falling to my knees at the edge of her selected plot. Tears well up and spill down my cheeks, oblivious to the fact that they hurt, cutting my soul like shards of broken glass. Laying the rose beneath the inscription, I mulled over one of the last things she said to me.
Well, we can't be stuck in the past, or the mistakes we made. That's why we were given eyes in the front of our head.
Sitting on the manicured lawn, I pluck a strand of grass and twirl it between my thumb and forefinger.
You see, Joe, the future is like a blank notebook, just waiting for us to write our own story's.
"Perhaps that's what my life has been like. A notebook filled with words dictating my life, except I'm not the one writing them." Letting the blade go, I watch as it catches a breeze and floated away. "Perhaps I should start a new one, with crisp blank pages, and begin filling it up. With my words, my story, my life. Yeah, I think she would like that." Standing up, a small gust of wind toyed with my hair. As I walk away, I turn and take a last look at the inscription carved onto her stone.
Sicica
Loving wife and friend
A fighter till the end
Thank you, My Butterfly.