December 4, 1990

128. Jenny's Park: The Memories She Left Behind

     Through tear-filled eyes, crying silently into the midnight sky, she remembers this one special place that will always remain deep within the walls of her heart.  This subtle place was a park with long, grassy meadows and well-worm trees reaching into the abyss of the endless sky above.  Silently, it was there, year after painful year, never-changing, like that quiet friend you had in those younger years that never said a word, yet made your day brighter just by being there.
     The bright orange sun was quickly falling beyond the trees and nearby houses as the ice-cold wind roared through the leaves and branches of the lonely trees.  She seemed but a shadowy figure in the park as she gazed through those beautiful eyes to the desolate land for the answer she could not find in her heart.  A sharp, rusted creak filled the sky as the empty swings were pushed by the wind running over the sand, setting it asturred in scattered places.
     Quietly, she stood, the wind blowing her long strands of beauty across her face and into her eyes.  The muffled laughter of children running into their homes echoed through the evening air, as in the distance, she saw him, the last shred of happiness she was hoping for.  Slowly, he walked up to her and embraced her cold figure, his warmth running through her body.  Subtle words were gone from his eyes as angered whispers shook her heart.  She looked to his words for something to hold on to, but found nothing.  Slowly, he turned and walked away from her.
     Tears slowly drifted down the confused expression emblazoned across her face as she watched him walk away.  Could her have known what he was doing?  One of the most beautiful girls in all the world - in heart, countenance, and mind - and he was walking away after three years.  She turned her back to him and walked toward the lonely, swaying swings.  She then sat on the dew-kissed grass, wondering just what it
was she had done wrong.  “It’s not you!” I try to holler.  “It’s just not meant to be!”  It’s no use - she still cannot hear me as she wipes the salty tears from her cheek and slowly falls into a daze, her countenance’s thoughts wand’ring with the cries of the gulls above.  The cold wind rapped at her face and a soft raindrop kissed her cheek.  The sky seemed to be crying.
     Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and a pain of arms around her; she heard a soft voice whisper, “I love you.”  She turned to the voice, but no one was ever there.  The past will not come back.  Her days and nights were all set into her memories, like love letters tied together with a silk blue ribbon and hidden away.  The place around her was once full of laughter and joy.  The trees now shook with anger and their sky fell with well-worn tears.  Slowly, she stood, and taking one last glance at all of the moments and smiles he had tossed away with the last dying blossom before winter’s dawn, she quickly walked away.  She had to go.
     As she walked further and further away, the park grew smaller until she could no longer see it beyond the houses.  The laughter she and he had once known and shared grew quieter, until finally, she could no longer hear it.
     I watched her walking - I can see it in my mind - through the cold streets and darkened shadows.  What anger flourished with my soul to see such a thing, but the day was inevitable, yet welcomed by their hearts.  They had closed the doors and walked away, to carry on another day.

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