Everlasting Candle

"Hello?" "Hey, I've missed you. Can I see you tomorrow?" "Yeah, when I get off the bus!" "Okay I have a present for you. See you then!" Anticipation. A meeting long sought after. Phone's distant ring. "We're going for a ride. Put your shoes on." A father and daughter head into the night. Empty company. Words go unspoken. "She's in the hospital. She was hit by a car." Confusion. Sorrow. Anger. Rage. "Don't let her mother see you cry." Strength found somewhere. Arrival. Room coated in silent sorrow. "They said there's hope. She had a brain wave." Hope. Wonder at what that thought was. A warm summer day running in the woods. Sorrow shattered by oncoming traffic. "I'm so sorry." Enraged eyes meet the driver. The woman cries, ashamed. "Its okay. She'll be okay." A misplaced hug. A lesson in judgement. "Sam. Do you want to see her?" Not like this. A long walk. Endless abyss. Tearing thoughts. "Don't be afraid." There through the door with handle brass. My beautiful friend's body turned to glass. "I won't say goodbye." Refusing to cry. Just as father said. "We have to go home. We'll come back tomorrow I promise." Journey back filled with empty company. Hollow. Out of place. A need to be alone. Give me space! Somehow sleep's darkness finds. My space invaded. No! Shut up! Go away! "Sam, I'm sorry. She didn't make it." Tears. Each one a memory. Meeting in fourth grade. Sharing the same name. Sticking up for one another. Playing a simple game. Long afternoons in the sun. Never once had a fight. She found out I was afraid of the dark. So she'd be my light. "She was amazing. So young. My condolences." A funeral filled with sadness so thick. I gazed upon her body. Peaceful. "She made this for you." A bracelet. Her present. The facade shatters. It's too much to handle. How can one's soul fire ever dance... Without it's everlasting candle.