Chasing Waterfalls

She always had bruises.

And no one would seem to question her outrageous remarks of being uncontrollably clumsy. Arden was not clumsy, she was graceful. Absolutely exquisite. It seemed that the rumors of her father being an abusive drunk never managed to click in their heads whenever they’d ask her about the marks tainting her olive skin. Only nodding at her well-dressed lie of how she fell up the stairs and caught her arm on the banister. She seemed to fool everyone, everyone except for Dexter.

He had learned to decipher her marks, knowing which ones were fresh and which ones were old. Which ones hurt and which ones were just there. Dexter fell helplessly in love with her, falling for her strength in trying to keep herself afloat in waters that she was clearly drowning in. He wanted nothing more than to keep her from sinking even if it meant that he would have to swallow water in the process. Arden wouldn’t dare admit to anyone what actually happened once she stepped foot behind her front door, it was something that she had dealt with for as long as she could remember. Creating a false personality to deter suspicions from the actual fact of getting pushed around every night. It was exhausting, physically and mentally. Arden wanted so desperately to close her eyes and never have to open them again, to be free of the constant battle of keeping up with her fictitious act.

Her wish was God’s command.

And it was Dexter’s worst nightmare.

He knew that he could never fix what was broken but he had tried his damnedest to guide her in the right direction of helping her find peace within herself. Dexter was stuck, he was so in love with her broken soul it was ridiculous. Why would he love a girl who kept so many secrets and lies? Why love a girl who refused to allow anyone to get close? And then he’d remember, he’d remember that he was the only one who got to see her for who she was. Not the fake Arden who obsessed over appearing to live a normal life. The Arden who’d reveal little tiny secrets about herself. The girl who kept a tiny piece of fabric tucked away in her left pocket of her jeans because it was the last thing her mother wore when she died. The girl who twisted her ring six times because it was something she did when she was nervous. The girl who was terrified of cats because one had followed her home one day and attacked her on her front porch.

The girl who loved waterfalls.

It was her happy place, a place where she found solace whenever she wanted to feel something. She’d paint them, covering canvas after canvas. Dreaming that she’d be able to find one that she could escape to for real. Arden had made an empty promise, knowing that she would never be able to take on the actual adventure. But, she proposed it anyway and made Dexter promise to take her to see every waterfall in the country. She laughed for only a moment and called their adventure chasing waterfalls; giving Dexter a chance to see her smile.

He had spent weeks searching for one and after hours of staying up late in the library to look over the maps surrounding their area, he found one. He had planned the perfect trip to take her, saving up his tip money from the local car-wash to take a special getaway. Dexter was excited to see how she’d react when he’d take her to a place that she had dreamed about. He wanted to see her smile and have a loss for words. Dexter needed to see her happy for more than a few seconds, it was the only way that he’d be able to admit to her that he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life mending the broken pieces of her that she left wherever she went.

But that trip never came. It was ripped away from him before he had the chance to tell her to pack a bag of clothes. Instead of spending a weekend hiking through the forest to find their destination, he spent the weekend picking out a black suit. Dexter had never felt so lost. He couldn’t explain the feeling that overcame him when he was sat just a few feet from her casket. She was right there, just out of reach but so far away. A part of him died along with her, trapped inside the closed door of where she was housed. It killed him that he wouldn’t be able to see her one last time. He just wanted to hold her hand and whisper his regrets of not telling how he felt sooner. To feel her, cold or not, just one more time.

So, here he stood in Switzerland at Rhines Fall, a waterfall he knew Arden would love; keeping his promise but taking it one step farther and going outside the country. He was thirty two today, fifteen years since he had last seen her. Dexter traveled the world, chasing every waterfall he could. He would continue to until he couldn’t and even then, he’d still try because he had made a promise and it was his promise to keep.