ivylady (ivylady) wrote in prompt_me, @ 2007-08-30 22:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | prompt 7 |
Prompt Fic--Not Goodbye, So Long
Title - Not Goodbye, So Long
Author - ivylady
Rating - PG
Word Count - 923
Summary - Saying goodbye to someone you love is always hard, but sometimes it's better to say "so long".
Author's Notes - Written for faynia's posted Prompt #7 at prompt_me: As two teenagers sit on the front porch of a house, a car with tinted windows pulls up. The doors open, and two men in black suits get out and start walking toward them.
Rachelle looked over at her older sister sitting on the opposite side of the porch. Devon was staring into space, twirling a lock of black hair around her index finger. Her brown eyes, hidden behind large, dark sunglasses, were red-rimmed. Rachelle looked no better. Her hair was unkempt, her clothes rumpled, and her eyes puffy. A feeling of sadness permeated the space around them, mocking the bright sunlight that marked the beautiful day.
“I’m going to miss her so much,” Rachelle whispered.
“Me too,” Devon said, moving closer to her sister.
“She’s always been there for us, no matter what,” Rachelle continued. “When things weren’t great with Mom and Dad, I knew I could come here to get away from it all. Now she’s gone.”
Rachelle burst into tears. Devon looked at her younger sister sympathetically. Rachelle was only thirteen and this was her first memorable experience with death. That it had to happen to their beloved grandmother was a double blow. At nineteen, Devon was old enough to remember when their grandfather died eleven years previously. She had understood what was happening then, and although she missed him still, the pain had subsided. Rachelle didn’t remember, and she was very close to their grandmother, closer to her than anyone else. To Rachelle, it seemed that the world was crumbling around her.
“Granny’s still with us, Shell,” Devon told her sister, “just in a different way. She didn’t leave us forever.”
“But she’s not here,” Rachelle cried. “I need her here. Who’s going to take care of me when Mom and Dad are too busy with their problems? Who’s going to be happy to see me, no matter what? Who’s going to listen to me ramble on about school and my friends and laugh at my stupid jokes?”
“I’ll listen,” Devon said. “I’ll be here for you.”
“No, you won’t!” Rachelle yelled. “You’re too busy with college and your friends. And your stupid boyfriend. I’m just a pest that Mom and Dad dump on you when they don’t want to be bothered.”
“That’s not true,” Devon exclaimed. “Rachelle, you’re my sister. Of course we don’t always get along, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be here for you if you need me.”
“Granny was the only person who loved me. She was the only one who didn’t care if I bothered her with questions or asked her to bake me cookies. She just like spending time with me,” Rachelle stated. “Mom and Dad are always fighting, you’re never here, and I’m just shoved aside because no one has time for me.”
Devon wanted to tell her sister to stop overreacting, but she couldn’t. Her little sister was absolutely heartbroken over their grandmother’s death, and to be honest she didn’t blame her. Their parents’ marriage was falling apart, and more often than not, they left Rachelle alone to fend for herself. Devon went to college four hours away, so while she often came home on the weekends, she spent most of her time either with friends or doing homework.
“Rachelle, I know things are bad right now, but they’ll get better. I love you, and so do Mom and Dad. They’re just going through a rough spot right now,” Devon soothed, hoping that her lie would help her distraught sister.
“But they’re not Granny,” Rachelle wailed. “I want Granny and she’s not here.”
“I know,” Devon cooed. “I know.”
“Why’d she leave us?” Rachelle asked.
“She was sick, Shell. Granny had a lot of health problems, and her heart just gave out,” Devon said, “but don’t think for one minute that she wanted to leave you.”
“I know. I wish she weren’t dead. I just wish she were still here with me,” Rachelle whispered.
“Me too,” said Devon, hugging her sister tighter.
The two teenagers sat outside all afternoon, talking and sharing memories about their grandmother. As the sun began to set, a black limousine with tented windows pulled up to the house. The doors opened and two men in black suits got out of the car and started up the walk toward them.
“Rachelle, Devon, it’s time to go,” their uncle stated. “The service starts in an hour and we need to be there before that.”
“Give us a minute,” Devon requested, and their uncle and cousin walked back to the limousine.
“You can do this, Shell,” Devon whispered, resting her sister’s head on her shoulder. “Granny wouldn’t want us to be sad. She’d want us to be happy.”
“I know,” Rachelle murmured.
“Besides, she’s not really gone,” Devon told her sister. “She’s still here with us, watching over us. We just can’t see her.”
Rachelle looked at her sister and slowly smiled. She clutched the locket that their grandmother had given her for her thirteenth birthday in her hand. Inside were two pictures—one of her grandfather holding her toddler self two months before he died and one of her grandmother holding her just after she was born. When Granny gave her the locket, she told her it was so no matter where Rachelle was, she would remember she was loved.
Her grandparents may not be alive any more, but as the sun’s waning rays shone across the land and the wind rustled her hair, she knew they had not left her. Wherever they were, they were looking after her.
“You’re right, Dee,” Rachelle said. “Let’s go say goodbye to Granny.”
“Not ‘goodbye’, Shell, but ‘so long’. We’ll see them again,” Devon smiled.
“Yeah, we will,” Rachelle whispered into the wind.