Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
I ducked my head so he wouldn’t see me break. It clearly didn’t work, because he said, “For now, I see her in my dreams, Sav. I talk to her every day, and I know she hears me. I see her perfect dimpled smile. And in my soul, she reassures me she’s happy and pain-free. I talk about her any chance I get. It keeps her alive to me.” His voice grew hoarse, thickened with emotion. “There’ll never be anyone else for me. Even from heaven, Poppy gives me more love than I could ever need.” He lifted his camera. “I travel the world and take pictures for her. In her honor. She gives me purpose, every day. And that helps me keep going. Helps me stay away from the darkness of grief.” His lip pulled up fondly at the side. “Poppy taught me that. How to cherish and love life. Even with her gone. I owe it to her to live for us both. I promised her. And would never break my promise to my girl.”
“Purpose … like studying medicine will be for me,” I said, thinking of Tala, of all the kids back in the Philippines, especially those who couldn’t be saved.
“Like you studying medicine,” he said in agreement. “We honor Poppy by keeping going, in her name. That will be enough for me until I see her again.”
He was quiet for a few minutes, our conversation floating above us. “I don’t regret a single moment of my life with your sister, Sav,” he said. “Even the bad times. The very worst times. When she was down, in the trenches, I was there with her. She knew that. That’s what made us so strong. Thrive or fail, I was beside her, holding her hand. Nothing would make me leave her … not even death.”
I pictured Cael and knew that was us too. I would be with him through rain or sunshine, when he was dancing in the light or lost in the dark. I just prayed he knew he had me, one hundred percent. I knew he thought himself a burden to me. But he was far from it. He elevated me. Made me soar. I knew he hated when he broke, when he was down and sinking into darkness. But what Cael did not get was that vulnerability only made me love him more. I’d come to understand that we showed our worst to those we love best. There was no judgment. Only complete, unwavering support.
I clutched on to Rune’s arm. “I’m real glad you’re here,” I said and laid my cheek on his bicep. “A piece of home with me halfway across the world.” I smiled as the cherry blossoms swayed in the breeze again. “A piece of Poppy.”
Rune kissed my hair and we sat in silence, just watching the trees my sister loved so much. Remembering her. Honoring her. Thinking of her.
Loving her.
Forever Always.
Goodbye
Savannah
Ōtsuchi, Japan
WE ARRIVED AT THE SMALL COASTAL TOWN OF ŌTSUCHI ON A HAZY AFTERNOON. It was vastly different from Kyoto. A sea dominated the view. Trees and fields. But it was remote and quiet.
I had left Kyoto feeling full but also a bit raw. Seeing that many blossom trees in full bloom and seeing and speaking to Rune … it was beautiful but also difficult. It was the little things, I realized, that could trigger a pang of grief in your heart. A feeling so overwhelming and strong that, for a few hours, it could thrust you back into the fire. But I had learned to climb out of it, a little charred but not burned. That was progress.
Although Kyoto had been difficult at times, I had tried my hardest to feel the beauty there too. I had visited a place Poppy had so desperately wanted to see. And I had been there with Rune. I knew she would have been so joyful about that. Rune had taken a picture of us both together, among the pink and white sea of petals. And I knew when I returned to Blossom Grove, Georgia, that picture would be leaning against my sister’s grave.
Rune had come to dinner with us all on the trip. We had talked of Poppy with wide smiles on our faces and tears in our eyes, remembering her fondly. It had been long overdue with the boy I thought of as a brother.
And Rune being Rune took a walk that evening with Dylan. When they returned, Dylan seemed lighter in his gait. His eyes didn’t seem so heavy. My heart squeezed looking at the two of them—good men who had had to part with their soulmates far too soon. I had looked at Cael then. He had wrapped his arms around me without words, as if he had read there was a little sadness on my soul. As if he had had the same dark thought as I—if anything happened to him … I didn’t know how I would come back from that. It made me more in awe of Rune than I had ever been. How he had picked up his life and was actually living it. He was making his dream of being a photographer a reality. He had made living for Poppy his purpose.