I.

she sits under a blinking streetlight, marveling at the sight of the busy port that had inhabited a once sought-out water reserve.

'hey,' a voice, shaping itself as one belonging to a boy, says softly, causing her to lift her face and look at him in the eye.

'you okay?' he asks. she just nods.

'doesn't seem like it,' he sits down beside her but he doesn't look.

'i am!' she shoots a glare at him.

'alright, alright' he raises his hands in defeat.

'who are you?' she asks, trying to maintain her glare.

'nice question,' he says, 'who are you?'

she finds this insulting, 'i asked you first!'

'questions to be answered do not need to be conditioned or sorted out according to who asked first,' he grins. she concludes that he is playing with her.

'alright, fine.' she gives up, 'my name is sadie. what's yours?'

'nice to meet you, sadie.' he smiles.

'you didn't answer my question!'

'i don't have to answer your question,' he says, 'people are not required to answer questions. you answer if you feel like it.'

this boy was irritating her. 'so you don't feel like answering me, then?'

'nope'

'why else are you here?' she demands.

'i want to be here,' he looks at her, fixing his eyes on hers. she can feel an immediate surge of emotion rushing through her mind, morphing themselves into images of the dead and the dying. every thought that had passed through this boy's mind now somehow seeped into her skin.

she stared at him for a moment, meticulously studying the features in his face she had overlooked--his unruly black hair, bushy eyebrows, the way his bangs swept across his face highlighting the vivid brown color that were his eyes.

'well, you're not allowed.' she says, despite her slight acknowledging his attractiveness.

'why not?'

'i'm not going to answer that question,'

II.

she looks at a shop widow, gazing at the mesmerizing white dress that was displayed.

'what are you looking at?' a voice asks.

she jumps back in a startled manner, accidentally hitting the nose of the speaker.

'sor--' she stops herself as she figured who the speaker was, 'you again?'

'hey,' he smiles, 'i wasn't hurt, by the way'

'oh god, i'm so sorry i didn't realize--'

'no amount of apologies can ever compensate for the pain that you inflicted on a person.'

she gives him a guilty look.

'but that's why the past was created,' he continues, smiling at her, 'it shelters the previous sins of one man, allowing them to relieve themselves of the pain those sins had bore on them.'

'what is with you and all these deep statements?' she looks at him weirdly.

'nothing much,' he smiles.

III.

she walks on the streets, passing dim streetlights and drunk truck drivers. she doesn't seem mind.

'what are you still doing up?' a voice creeps into her skin.

startled, she looks behind. she finds him again looking doubtful.

'are you stalking me?' she says, raising an eyebrow.

'maybe yes, maybe no.' he says, 'the important thing is, you should be home by now'

'why do you care anyway?'

'oh a fourteen-year-old girl walking around alone in an alley full of drunk men. what's to care about?'

'oh, ha-ha. you think i can't take care of myself, don't you?'

'i didn't sa--'

'well you thought wrong, mister.' she shoots him another glare. as she walks away, she can hear him sigh.

'well at least let me walk you home.' he suggests.

she doesn't respond but he walks with her anyway.

IV.

'you haven't told me your name yet.' she says.

she has a point. they've been acquaintances for a few weeks now, spending their moments together in awkward silence. she doesn't know a single detail about him (except for the fact that his eyes hide a sense of pain and agony which she still cannot manage to explain in words).

'i'll tell you when i want to tell you.' he smiles.

'now you're just being rude.' she plucks a blade of grass and rolls it between her fingers.

he laughs, 'my name is nico. but that's all i can tell you.'

'why?'

'sadie,' he begins, 'there are just some things in life you really shouldn't know about.'

'there you go again'

he smiles and pinches her cheek. she blushes at their unusual physical interaction.

V.

she gazes outside, cursing at the rain for deciding to fall on such an important occasion. she had promised to meet nico at the park, but due to the heavy rainfall, it seems as if their plan for meeting was cancelled.

'stupid rain,' she curses quietly, 'i wonder what he's thinking right now'

VI.

she kicks a can of soda that lies lifelessly on the ground. he has been gone for two days straight.

she admits to herself that she misses him. dearly.

'when will he come back?' she asks nothing.

she looks up at the sky, at the stars that scintillate across its vast canvas. they look down on her. billions of them look down on her, making her feel small and trivial. like a rodent in a wheat field.

VII.

in a few days, school will begin. it will mark the beginning of the busy days that would keep her away from her recreational activities, which include nico.

he hasn't shown up. nor has he left any sign of himself still remaining in the vicinity. it's as if he, and everything that was connected in any way to him, was blown off by the wind and sent to a far away place, enclosed, out of her reach.

she picks up a piece of paper, grabs any pencil or pen she could get her hands on and begins to write.

when she looks at her finished product, she reads it again. and again. she finds that it lacks meaning, or even grammatical knowledge.

'this is stupid,' she realizes, 'i don't even know where he lives.'

she crumples the paper and throws it in a trash bin.

VIII.

'sadie,' he says, 'there are just some things in life you really shouldn't know about.'

those words keep her up. it sends chills down her spine. chills she couldn't explain, like the feeling of being too engrossed in his eyes.

tears trickle down her cheek.

'who are you, nico?'

VIIII.

after seventy two years of living, her body gave in. she was no longer the girl who ran across the street, knocking any can she can get her feet to kick. she was no longer the girl who sidled out of the house and sat in a hill overlooking the city nightlife.

she was weak and soon, her corpse would dissipate, leaving nothing of her on earth.

she lay on her bed, trying desperately to get up and go to the porch where she could see the millions of constellations that were scattered across the night sky. but she couldn't.

she was tired. as tired as those old grandmothers in retirement homes, alone with no grandfathers to complete their equation.

as old as she may be, she doesn't forget his face. his young angelic face that had loomed over hers for a brief period of time. the face that she wasn't accustomed to losing.

'sadie' she hears him say. 'sorry for leaving you. i know that no matter how many times i apologize, it will never abrogate the countless times you were haunted by my disappearance.

her chest felt heavy. it was from her conscience, given as the only means to elate her in her times of pain. but it was negating it's purpose.

her eyelids felt heavy. it was clear that she was tired. she forces herself to stay awake, for when she sleeps, it is possible that she may never wake again.

she couldn't handle it much longer. her eyelids were half-closed.

she imagines him, looking at her with his eyes that had once baffled her but now were warm and lenient. he smiles at her, and then laughs when he sees her expression.

he stands up and walks, gesturing her to follow him. she hesitates at first, but his smile makes it hard to refuse.

he was running now, but on a pace she could keep up with. he laughs at her, she smiles back.

he holds out his hand.

memories flash back.

the ones she had buried deep within the corners of her bare flesh emerge once again, flooding her mind with images of the good times she had spent with him (although few).

she pressed her palm against his and holds on to it, tight. she doesn't want to let it go, afraid that he might leave her again if she did.

she doesn't want him to leave.

he takes her gently and leads her into a vast meadow of daisies. he points at the sky and says something she couldn't hear.

white feathery wings sprout from his shoulders. they flap and carry him in the air. he takes her by the waist and hoists her up.

he plants a kiss on her forehead.

sadie's room was quiet. the only sound audible was the ceiling fan that was left open by her niece.

sadie's niece comes in and finds her lying lifelessly on her bed. she calls for her father to come. when he does, he looks out the window because he could've sworn he heard the flapping of wings.