All I Need
I kept walking, knowing that Scott would recover momentarily and join me. The wind whistled around me, filling my heart with a yearning to touch the sky again. I hadn't flown since my return. I mentally filed away some time to fly after my visit with Jessie. Scott joined me, and placed a hand under my elbow, guiding me off to the right. Neither of us spoke as we drew near the headstone.
I moved forward, away from Scott's comforting hand, and slowly, very slowly, reached out to trace her name. Jessica Danielle Warren: 1993-2008. I bowed my head, hoping to find some solace here. I heard Scott shift awkwardly behind me, and turned slightly. "You should go ahead, Scott, I know you've got classes, and I'm going to be here a while." I heard him nod and, with a barely audible sigh of relief, he crunched away in the direction of the mansion.
15 years. All the time she was given on this earth. Doesn't seem like enough time to change the world, but it doesn't have to. All that's needed is the time to change one person's world, no more. It took her three weeks to change my life. Funny, isn't it? I've been hunting throughout the world for answers, and yet I find that I don't need them anymore. All I need is what she gave me.
I rose, pressed my fingers to my lips, and brushed them across her headstone. "For you, my beautiful daughter." I launched myself into the sky, changing as I did so. I flew straight up, higher than I had ever gone before, almost higher than I could bear, and danced.
I don't know how many hours I swooped across the sky, but I noticed when the sun began to go down. As I descended to the campus, I ran my eyes across the ground, checking on my students. Everything seemed in order. The basketball court still had a few diehard players gathered on it, and there were a few couples walking through the gardens. Yes, everything was as it should be. Storm rose to meet me, and I smiled in greeting. Her lack of response set off warning bells.
"We've got a problem."