Suddenly, You're Merging with Grace

I. Un

It was simple, really.

Three small, glass bottles, their contents still as a wintry lake on a windless day. She couldn’t help but imagine that each one contained a miniature world within its crystal depths. They were simple, but lovely, in the fading light. Tendrils of it retreated from the room with each passing minute, withdrawing into the sinking sun, back to the beginning.

It was, she thought, exactly what she was getting ready to do. She steeled herself and looked up at the patiently waiting man sitting before her.

“Which one?”

He shrugged and his craggy face formed a grim smile.

“It's your choice to make. The conditions are clear. You're still free to walk away from all this, y'know.”

Yes, the circumstances of her agreement were perfectly understandable. In exchange for a boy’s life, a boy who had probably never even noticed her, she would take part in a game just as brittle as Russian roulette.

Three small bottles, the contents of each as clear and unassuming as water. The third was, in her opinion, the loveliest. It was only a cylinder and the stopper was uninteresting by far. But the liquid within seemed to gleam against the glass and it beckoned to her, enticing in the light that reflected against its fragmented surface. Her fingers closed around the bottle without thinking and they pulled easily at the spherical cap.

“If I may ask a personal question,” the man spoke up and she looked at him expectantly, “Why’s a girl like you doin' this? You have your whole life ahead of you. Why are you takin' this risk, on somebody you hardly even know?”

She smiled, and the expression was softly bittersweet.

“Because he deserves it more than I do,” she whispered and brought the bottle to her lips.

II. Deux

The funeral is a mass of black, bodies ensconced in cotton and silk and tulle making their way through the somber crowd. Strangers whisper their condolences. He doesn’t join them, can’t stand to press in amongst the suffocating accumulation of mourners. His eyes take in everything through a sort of haze from where he sits, hidden amongst the foliage of an old, groaning oak.

A middle-aged women stands at the forefront of the crowd, mascara running down the careworn lines of her face. A priest is murmuring something at the edge of the grave. The words are unintelligible from his perch, but he can see the creased bible, trembling in knobby, arthritic hands. The coffin itself is delicate-- small and white.

He looks away and fumbles with a pack of cigarettes, shaking one out of the wrinkled confines. Shaky fingers press it between his lips and a hand cups around the end. The wind is harsh, though, pushing against the mourners and making the old oak groan stiffly. It takes him a few clicks of his lighter before the end finally gives off a satisfying ember glow.

He inhales deeply. Holds it a moment, then lets it out in a sigh as he shoves the pack back into his jacket pocket and settles himself in to wait.

Only a little longer left now.

III. Trois

Dusk is just beginning to settle, its heavy cloak draping over the graveyard, when the last of the mourners drift away, into the smooth leather confines of their cars.

The air is chill and his joints are stiff from sitting on a tree branch for so long. He stretches with a soft groan, then presses his palms against coarse bark and pushes himself out of the tree. A rush of breath expels from his lungs at the force of impact, but he rises out of the crouch with ease.

It is with quiet trepidation that he approaches the newly turned earth. Nothing but a tacky orange flag marks the spot. He can only assume that the headstone isn’t ready yet.

He falls to his knees, next to the mound of soft earth and presses his fingers against the cold surface. His face screws up in an effort to force back the burning behind his eyes, but it scorches up his throat and throbs against his skull. All he can manage to choke out is one word, hardly a whisper of breath that is instantly torn away by the furious wind.

“Why?”

All of the unanswered questions crash down around him.