I stand amongst many, holding a bouquet of sunflowers. Her favourite...

 

"Henry! Come and see this one!!" She yelled.

 

"Coming~!" I ran to her, wrapping my arms around her waist to stop, pulling her along with me.

 

"Yah!" She yelled, slapping my hands away. "I said to come, not almost tackle me to the ground."

 

"But Minnie, I just wanted to play." I pouted.

 

"We can play after, but you have to see this!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me to stand beside her, pointing downward in the sand.

 

I clutch the bouquet tighter. Minnie would have hated this. Too many people that cry without purpose, too many dreary colours, too much sadness. But how could there not be? Even the sun doesn't shine today, hiding it's face behind the clouds, ashamed to smile on a day like today. Unlike the natural grey clouds, a dark, black one hangs overhead. I look up at the sky and sigh, my body shivering with the action...

 

"It's a pretty shell, isn't it?" She asked, picking it up to examine it.

 

A conch shell, no less, swirling upward with an array of colours and designs. Never before had I seen a shell so perfect, so preserved. It's almost as if it was magically placed here so only Minnie could find it.

 

Minnie passed me the shell and I looked at it. I looked back at her and smiled. "It's very beautiful, but not as beautiful as you." I placed the shell back in her hands and pulled her into a hug.

 

"You're so cheesy," she chuckled, escaping my hug and running away. I put my hand in my pocket and played with an object before I ran after her.

 

On the way to my car, I tripped and fell face plant in the sand, arms length away from catching Minnie. She spun around, gasped and laughed, pointing at me like a child.

 

"Aren't you gonna help me up?" I asked, face still in the sand and my hand raised up. Smaller, softer hands wrapped around mine and pulled. I chuckled softly lifting myself effortlessly of the ground. Without hesitation, I tackled Minnie to the ground, making sure she fell on me as we made contact with the sand.

 

"Yah!" She yelled, attempting to get out of my grip by squirming.

 

"Gotcha!" I smirked. Minnie stuck out her tongue and rested her head on my chest.

 

"Can we just walk once more along the beach?" She looked up at me and asked, a bit of sadness in her eyes.

 

The rain comes, a fitting moment for a day like today. Even the skies are crying. They have more purpose, more emotion to cry than most of the people around me. I sneer secretly at them, annoyed by their audacity to even pretend to care. Most of them pull out umbrellas while others hide underneath. It's the smart thing to do, but I don't care. I need the rain to hide my tears, my sorrow and my pain. My empty hand instinctively extends out to grasp Minnie's hand. I look beside me and my heart falters.

 

Minnie isn't beside me....

 

"The water is so cold," she shivered. I laughed whole heartedly and swung our interlaced hands forward and back, bringing it high as if proving to the heavens we're together.

 

"Let's write something in the sand," I suggested. Minnie nodded and found a stick drifting on the water's surface. She stood beside me and started to write.

 

'I love you'

 

I kissed her cheek and she giggled. I snatched the stick from her hands and replied.

 

'I love you, too'

 

She kissed my cheek and smirked. "Race ya to the car!"

 

"You're on!" 

 

Minnie ran off into that direction, but I stayed put. I wrote a few more words before running off after her. I glanced back and watched the waves crash against the shore, erasing the writing. I chuckled lightly and continued to run.

 

The people leave in tears and mumbles, false signs of love and sorrow. I chuckle at the thought of Minnie coming and snapping them back into their normal state of coldness, making them realize how stupid they are. My chuckle turns dry and soon becomes whimpers and sobs. I place the bouquet on the freshly turned up soil, just in front of the tombstone.

 

R.I.P. Jung Mina. Daughter. 1990-2013. We will miss you.

 

Oh how I wish I could have been there beside you for every second of the day. I wish I was there to prevent the abuse, the words of abandonment and cruelty. I wish I could have saved you in the hospital, repaired your fatal wounds with the magic you used to talk about.

 

I reach into my pocket and pull out a small box. I open it and place it beside the flowers, allowing the rain to drop water onto the ring. The ring I was going to propose to Minnie with that night, but her father got to her before me. He took it too far. 'He was drunk' a medic told me while rushing Minnie's almost lifeless body to the hospital from her home. A temporary sanctuary, if you will, from the horrors that she grew up with.

 

I stand up and walk out of the cemetery, glancing back to see Minnie's ghostly figure skipping amongst the graves, stopping to wave at me.

 

Oh how I wish I could have washed away your pain like the writing in the sand.

 

'I love you'

 

'I love you, too. Will you marry me?'