Memories Remain

“I can’t sleep, Daddy,” a little girl whimpered, clutching a tattered little bear for dear life. One of its gleaming black button eyes was dangling haphazardly from its soft brown face. The little girl swiped a chestnut curl behind her ear before climbing up upon the king-sized bed, snuggling next to the middle-aged man. He sighed, wrapping an arm securely around the scrawny four-year-old.

“Okay, Rae, how about I tell you a story?” he suggested, using his free arm to push his sandy colored hair away from his exhausted features. Rae pulled the blankets up to her chin, her tawny eyelashes clustering together as she shut her lids.

“Okay,” she breathed, the teddy bear glued to her side. Her father smiled, his chocolate eyes looking over her serene face.

“Once upon a time, there was a girl. She was all alone, sitting on a swing.” As the words escaped his mouth, he shut his eyes, the scene playing out before him.

“Aren’t you a bit old to be at an empty playground?” A girl looked up, a smirk playing across her porcelain face. She gripped harder onto the cool metal chains of the black swing, cocking an eyebrow at the stranger.

“If that’s how we’re playing it, you’re just as old as I am. Pick a new insult,” she retorted, her soprano voice echoing the deserted park. The boy flipped his sandy hair, a grin breaking across his sullen face. After a few minutes of debating, he sat on the vacant swing beside her, listening as the creaking filled the air.

“Fair enough, I suppose. I’m Samuel Walker,” he offered, looking across at her with a grin. She bit her plush bottom lip, trying to hide the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“I’m Natalie.” She pushed a copper curl away from her olive eyes, which were sparkling in the setting sun.

“So, what’s a girl like you doing here? I mean, you must be at least seventeen, yet here you are, in the land of toddlers.” His voice trailed off, and a chime like laughter escaped her mouth.

“I happen to like swinging. You’re never too old to feel like you’re flying. By the way, I’m eighteen; you were close. Now, what’s your excuse, mister? I mean, you have to be just as old as I am.” She tilted her head, watching him expectantly as her bare toes pushed against the sand, rocking her back and forth.

“I was on my way to a friend’s graduation party. I…got a little lost.” Once again, it sounded like bells. Natalie tilted her head forward, allowing her hair to hide her beaming face.

“Well, Samuel, there is such thing as a map. Or a GPS,” she teased, finally allowing her jade eyes to meet his russet ones. He shrugged sheepishly, looking up at the cloudless sky.

“If we’re being honest, I’m glad I didn’t. Then I never would’ve ended up here, talking to you.” As he looked back up, she cast her eyes away. Still, it couldn’t hide the way her cheeks were turning rose, much like the sunset behind her.

“I’m kinda glad, too,” she whispered, before glancing up through her ebony eyelashes.

“After that, Samuel knew he would never forget the sight of her, blushing and smiling at him.”

“Do they live happily ever after?” Rae mumbled, not bothering to open her eyes. Her father chuckled a bit, brushing her hair off of her warm forehead.

“Well, if you keep interrupting me, you aren’t going to find out,” he joked, and she pushed her lips together, raising a tiny hand as if to lock it.

“You see, darling, men aren’t always very smart when it comes to girls. Girls make them do stupid things…”

Natalie’s olive eyes darted around the beach, glistening like the waves crashing against the shoreline. Samuel entangled his hand with hers, leading her through the damp sand. It stuck to their ankles, but neither paid it much attention as the cool water lapped against their shins. The cool breeze whipped Natalie’s long copper curls into her face, and she did her best to hold them off as she looked up at Samuel.

“It’s really beautiful out here,” she murmured, her eyes floating back out to the cyan waves. Their frosty white tips were apparent from the shore, along with the gleaming reflection of the fiery sun.

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed, his eyes locked on her face. A lopsided grin graced his face, along with a crimson flush as she processed his words.

“That was corny,” she mumbled, turning away to hide her own ruby cheeks. He let out a nervous laugh, and she bumped into him.

“But it was true,” he countered, bringing them to a stop. Natalie watched him curiously, her sundress tangling around her thighs. It didn’t matter, though, as his chocolate eyes looked at her like she was the world. Both of their tongues grasped at words neither could quite say.

“I need to tell you something,” Samuel choked out.

“Samuel James Walker, I love you,” Natalie whispered softly before he could finish. The crashing of waves against sand mixed with the cawing of gulls was the only sound for a good while.

“Okay.” Natalie pursed her lips, waiting for more to come out of his mouth, but nothing did.

“Yeah, okay,” she said quickly, before tearing her hand from his and running up the beach, back towards the small coastal town. A stream of profanities flew from his mouth as he watched her. He couldn’t make his legs move, but instead stood paralyzed.

“He called her a million times, but she wouldn’t pick up. The look on her face before she ran was haunting his mind.”

“Did he love her back?” Rae asked, barely winning her battle against sleep. Her father kissed the top of her hair softly before going on.

“Of course he did. He wanted to tell her that, but she caught him off guard.”

“Then what did he do?”

“Well, baby, he came up with the kind of plot you only find in movies.”

The rain hurled around the small townhouse, splattering against the rough gray pavement. The wind howled right along with it, sounding much like a ferocious wolf in the night. Blond hair was matted against Samuel’s face as he chucked stones at the glass window, praying the tiny ‘clunk’ would be heard above the noise. In his head he heard his grandmother’s warnings of pneumonia, but all he could focus on was the hurt that flashed through her eyes when she left him.

“What do you want?” Natalie screamed, her familiar curls bouncing to the window. Her olive eyes were cold and annoyed, and her thin arms were crossed over her chest.

“Natalie, I love you. I love you more than the air I breathe.” She made no movement, just stood, an eyebrow raised.

“You couldn’t tell me this last week, when I spilled my heart out to you?”

“You surprised me. I was going to tell you that got an internship out of state. They want me to start next week.” His voice fell, but he could tell by the way that Natalie’s face dropped that she heard every last word.

“You’re leaving.” It came out of her lips as a statement; she knew him too well. He gnawed on the inside of his cheeks, pausing to wipe the raindrops out of his face.

“Yeah. But I wanted to ask if you’d come with me.” She disappeared from the mahogany window frame, and reappeared moments later through the oak door, running through the torrential downpour to meet him in the street.

“I think this storm has me hearing things. Tell me again what you just said,” she pleaded, her breathing coming heavily.

“Come with me. I love you, Nat, come with me. Please.”

“Did she say yes?” Rae asked loudly, and a person stirred beside them.

“What are you two doing?” A woman rolled over in the bed next to Rae, her voice thick with sleep.

“Mama, be quiet, I have to know what happened!” Rae screeched, her chocolate eyes popping open to glare back into an olive pair.

“Samuel, what are you doing?” she whispered to her husband, chuckling quietly as she raked her hand through her copper waves.

“Just telling her a story, Nat,” he replied, winking at her.

“What did she say?” Rae repeated, looking between her parents. Samuel scooped her small body up, setting her between the two of them. Natalie sat up, looping her arm with Samuel’s and resting her head on his broad shoulder, stroking through Rae’s brown curls.

“She said yes. And he knew he was the luckiest person in the world, so he proposed and they got married,” Samuel said, his own chocolate eyes glancing lovingly between his girls.

“Then they lived happily ever after, and had a beautiful baby girl,” Natalie finished, sneaking a kiss with Samuel.

“That’s a good story,” Rae mumbled, her eyelids drooping shut.

“Yeah, it really is,” Natalie agreed.

“It’s a perfect story,” Samuel countered. Soon, the small girl’s gentle snores filled the room. Natalie still watched her husband, a grin playing across her lips.

“You told her our story?”

“It’s the best fairytale I know.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” He leaned in, his lips crashing lightly against hers. They pulled apart, their foreheads still touching tenderly.

“I’m just glad you remembered to say it back this time.”