Sandcastle Boy
The day was a blur. Streams of wavering color and tinny voices echoing oddly in his ears.
Her hair was a brilliant red, like fire and flame, darkening with the fall of the sun. Her eyes were glassy brown, unblinking. She was quiet, still.
The first battlements fell to the encroaching peril. He rebuilt, fortified, and never stopped moving.
He sat there long after dusk making castles in the sand, ignoring her corpse where it lain in waiting, waiting to be swallowed by the tide.
The tide crept too fast, his parapets fell and dispersed with the sea.
He crawled to her side, his hands raw and dry.
Her eyes stared up at him as he held her. His grey eyes spiked with tears. Her forehead was cold against his lips, but he did not notice.
"I built you a castle, Red. Did you see it? I built you a fortress. No one could have touched you there."
She did not answer. He did not expect her to, not really.
He dug into the cold sand. His hands began to bleed.
He held her again.
Morning came, and went.
As did dusk.
He stayed there, holding her in the same spot until death took him too.
Long after he had died, his arms stayed wrapped around her. Protecting her, loving her, even after the end.
A/N: A response to the DG Forum's Free Words Challenge.
Words used: corpse, castle, sand.
