Come on people! You're making me depressed! Review already! I need feedback! Grrrrrrrrrr. L
Chapter Four
Memories
Tres lay in her bed, awake. Something in the corner of her mind's eye was screaming for recognition, to be viewed and analyzed, but no matter how hard she tried to look at it, it always remained out of focus. She decided to take a walk before she ripped everything she could get her hands on into shreds out of frustration. Tres pulled on a large and think black robe and went onto her balcony, which over looked the garden. She jumped down three stories and fell to the floor neatly, landing on her feet, jarring her knees and ankles a bit. She walked deep into the garden, away from prying eyes that could spy from windows. She sat on a marble bench, and stared at the roses. Red roses. She inhaled their sweet scent, closing her eyes momentarily. She opened them and glared at a rose bud, then sighed. There she sat, elbows on knees, hands holding chin. She asked them silently the secrets of human emotion. What could be expressed with roses? Regret, remorse, sympathy.
'Love.' She thought. 'And what is love exactly? Physical attraction? Some emotion only the weak have? Please, tell me." She asked the roses, who began to shake their heads in the breeze.
'Oh, how could I forget?' she asked, rolling her eyes at herself. 'There are no words to explain it. No exact definition. It varies from person to person, yes?' she silently queried.
The roses nodded.
She plucked a rose and glared at it, looking at it from all angles. Then she froze.
Memories began to flash before her eyes.
Red hair. An empty playground. Cloudy sky. A tree. Jumbled voices of two young children.
A hand offering a rose.
The something at the corner of her minds eye came into focus.
~Flashback~
A little girl with shoulder length wispy white hair and big innocent gray eyes sat in a chair. She was wearing a black velvet dress with a white frilly collar and white crisp cuffs. She had on black tights and shiny black shoes. There was a black coffin in front of her, a few feet away. People where in a long line, each murmuring something and dropping a red rose on the coffin's lid. The little girl had a rose in her hand. She twirled it silently. After all the big people had gone, she went and put her rose at the very top.
"I love you, mommy."
The memory seemed to fast forward, showing the girl briefly get in the car and drive to her house, where many people streamed in and out, eating and drinking, bringing flowers and food. It slowed to show the girl at the entrance way to their living room, where everyone was gathered. They wiped their dry eyes with handkerchiefs that where as dry as the desert sand. She was afraid of big people, so she left the house. The memory speeded up again to see her quickly walking to a park. It slowed again. The park had swings, a jungle gym, and something that resembled a miniature fort with slides and poles for every possible entrance and exit. The girl saw something red. She climbed the rope ladder and saw a boy with long red hair reading a book. He was wearing slacks and a white shirt. She walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Bright green eyes turned to her in query.
"Please play with me." She said.
There was a short silence.
"What do you want to play?" he asked, putting his book away, smiling kindly.
" Hide and seek." She answered.
He got up and dusted off his pants, standing two feet taller than she.
"I'll be the seeker." He offered.
The little girl just nodded seriously.
The boy went to a nearby tree and began to count.
The girl quietly snuck up behind him, and as he finished and turned around, swung out of view behind him and started to slowly and quietly climb the tree he had been counting on. She finally got to the top and as she positioned herself as best she could, she turned to see bright green orbs looking into her gray eyes. She jerked her head back, surprised and almost fell out of the tree. The boy grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back into the safety of the branches.
"Found you." He said, smiling victoriously.
She stared at him, curiously, and a bit suspiciously, then she smiled.
"My name is Tressy." She said and held out a hand.
"Suichi." He said and shook it.
The memory sped up to show them playing more games of Hide and Seek and even a few of tag. The sun slowly went down, and the memory slowed once more.
"I need to go home." Tres said sadly.
"Okay." Suichi said. "But tomorrow I'm leaving. Remember, I'm visiting my uncle."
"Oh." Tres said and bowed her head. "I'm not going to say goodbye, because I'll see you again, somewhere. You see," she said, explaining to him in a hushed whisper, "If I say goodbye, then you won't remember me." She said.
Suichi nodded.
He hesitated, then put a hand in his hair and pulled out a red rose.
"I'll remember you. I promise." He said, then walked away.
She stood there for a long time, looking at that rose, twirling it in her fingers.
~End Flashback~
Tres smiled at the memory. The expression felt alien on her face. She sighed and looked at the full moon, hopefully.
'Another memory unlocked.' She thought.
She lay on the marble, but couldn't get comfortable, so she slept on the grass covered floor, clutching the rose. She didn't see the huge fox lay beside her, flicking his many tails. She huddled closer, it's soft white fur softer than a rabbits, and didn't notice as she twined her fingers into it's mane.