It was a sad day here and I had just gotten home from my school's senior banquet when a puff of smoke alerted me to the fact that I had a visitor.
"Boggy, now's really not a good time," I started as tears began to prick my eyes.
"Well, thank goodness I'm not Boggy," a smooth voice shot back.
"Christian," I whispered as the fae walked up to me.
"What's wrong?' he asked as he pulled me into him.
"It's all ending," I cried.
"No, you're wrong. It's just beginning," he told me as he held me tighter.
"No, for the past 13 years I've lived with these people almost everyday and now they're going to be gone. I'll never see most of them again. My teachers, friends, all of them, gone," I hiccuped.
"Are you planning on forgetting them?" he asked me with a tenderness in his voice that was only reserved for me in these moments.
"No, never," I whispered.
"Then they're going nowhere. If you keep their memories alive in your heart then they'll never leave you. I promise you that. As far as everything ending, you know that's not true. One chapter must end for another to begin. How else are you to continue writing? The story can't progress if you don't let it move along. This storyline has run it's course. In order for growth to happen, you're going to have to let go."
"Why do I feel like you're talking about more than just high school?" I murmured.
"Because I am. Life in general. You have to let go to let yourself live. Letting go does not mean forgetting. Always remember that."
"Will I have to let go of you?" I ask in a small voice.
"No, I'll always be there for you," he told me as he held me tighter. He smelled of embers and hope, like a fire just starting, waiting to burn.
"What will the fall be like?"
"I imagine the fall will be as it always is, colorful."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know it's not, but in a way, what's changing? You're still going to school, you're still learning. Sure the people and the places are different, but the idea behind it is the same. You're still you regardless of any changes you go through," Christian reminded me as he stroked my hair.
"You're right," I sniffed.
"I know," he teased as he softly poked my nose. My face scrunched up in response.
"You're my writer and I am your character. In a way, I'm just you. I say what you need me to say, I'm you're way of being honest with yourself. I'll always be there when you need someone," he smiled.
"I was planning on stopping these therapy writing sessions once I graduated high school."
"You haven't graduated yet."
"And I probably won't stop when I do."
"Everyone has their way of dealing with things. This is yours. So what if no one here reads them? You don't post them for anyone but yourself, right?"
"Right."
"Come on, let's go visit Boggy. He's been asking about you ever since you took The Way Forward off of indefinite hiatus. Why did you do that by the way?"
"Honestly? I felt like I owed it to you, to myself, to finish it."
"Are you going to finish it?"
"Eventually."