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)
“Poppy …” I whispered quietly but loud enough that if it was she who had come to see me, she would hear me and know that I was here. I never stopped watching that cherry-blossom-pink beam of light as it fluttered gracefully across the stars until it faded away. But it had been there. It had ingrained itself in my mind forever. It had been temporary, it had been beauty personified, and it had burned its image onto my soul.
Then, slowly, the vibrancy of the lights began to dim, each thread fading bit by bit, until they disappeared, leaving only a diamond-washed sky.
A finger dusted down my cheek, and my eyelashes fluttered. My throat felt raw from crying, and my limbs were stiff from not moving.
“Peaches,” Cael’s roughened voice sounded, piercing the silence.
I turned my face toward him. “I felt she was here,” I said, for once in my life not overthinking what I said and blurting out what was in my heart.
Cael’s eyes closed, like that thought hit him deeply, and he placed his drink down, wrapped his strong arms around me, and pulled me to his chest. His cheek rested against the side of my head, and I felt so content I didn’t ever want to leave. I’d found a heaven on earth in this place, with this boy, and I didn’t want to go back to what it had been before.
A hand pressed against my back. “It’s time to go,” a careful, gentle voice announced. Mia. I held on to Cael for a few moments longer, then let him guide us back to the bus. Every face I passed on the way to my seat looked awestruck.
We all appeared changed.
The bus ride home was a blur. By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was late. But when I got to my room I was wired, electricity soaring through me. I didn’t think I’d be getting sleep that night. Sitting on my bed, I found myself staring off at the wall, lost in my thoughts.
Reaching for the journal we’d been given by Mia and Leo, I opened the page and let my soul pour onto it.
Poppy, I wrote.
I think I felt you tonight. For the first time since you passed, I felt you beside me. Please say that it was you.
A lump clogged my throat.
Please say that ribbon of cherry blossom pink that broke through the green was you. Please tell me you are with me on this journey.
I sucked in a breath, desperate tears falling on my exhale.
Please say you are happy and alive, in some miraculous way. Because Poppy … I need that. I need you to be somewhere living. YOU were too big and too bright not to be living. Please tell me you were one of the stars I saw sparkling in the sky tonight, so that I can look upon you when I need you. When I want my big sister to stay with me, for as long as you can.
I can live in the darkness if you are one of the stars.
My words were scattered and pleading. But then I looked to the window, and a joyful cry soared from my lips when I saw another flicker of the northern lights trying to appear over Tromsø. And that pink … that ribbon of pink was there, weaving through the stars like the most beautiful of dancers. I held the journal to my chest like I was holding Poppy herself.
“Poppy. I see you,” I whispered and watched as that pink slowly faded away but left a change in my heart. Tears streamed down my face, but they were filled with happiness. “Poppy … I miss you …” I whispered again, for once believing she might actually hear me.
* * *
I’d barely climbed into bed, still fully clothed, when a quiet knock tapped at my door. I was wide awake. It was four in the morning. I’d watched the sky like a hawk for any other sign of the lights, but they had gone. Clouds had rolled in over Tromsø, making a game of hide and seek with the stars.
The knock sounded again, and I climbed out of bed and cracked it open just a little. Cael was on the other side, eyes full of life and just as wide awake as me. “Come on,” he said and held out his hand, a soft but excited expression on his face.
The rule follower within me told me to stay, that our curfew had passed and we would get into trouble if we were caught sneaking out. Mia and Leo had been insistent that we not break the rules. But then the energy that was still coursing through me told me to forget the rules and seize the moment. It had me ducking back into my room to grab my coat, boots, gloves, and hat. Quietly closing my door, I took Cael’s hand and silently followed him down the stairs and out into the street.