As tears dripped down my face, I looked down at the ratty old book in my hands. It wasn't much, but to me it was everything I had ever wanted…and all I would ever have. In this banged up volume was hundreds of pictures. Some nearly gone from the years of leafing through the pages. It was all I could do to keep them alive.
The pages crackled as I turned them to reveal another chapter in my life. And theirs.
Times that should be still happening, but never would again. A picture of Gazzy, soot smeared across his face as he sat on the couch with angel watching a movie, Fang and me in my room dancing to random songs that came on the radio. Nudge and Iggy passed out from eating so much chocolate, wrappers and smears of chocolate all over them. Fang and Angel, Fang pushing her on the swings. Angel and I fighting over the last Oreo. And in the back round you can see Fang eating the cookie while we still fought over it.
So many memories…
They were my family, and I couldn't even save them.
A sob racked my body, making my entire body shake and the album to almost fall out of my hands. I gripped the old leather bound book tighter, I don't know what I hoped would happen…maybe if I held on long enough, then they would come back. But I knew that would never happen. Cause where they had gone there was no coming back.
Or so I thought.
"Max…"