I Heard Their Hearts Before Mine Stopped Chapter 10

I Heard Their Hearts Before Mine Stopped Chapter 10

“Dad, eat something. I visited Mom at the hospital today. The doctor said she has been calmer lately, but she still will not let go of those shoes.” Gavin opened the container. It was filled with lasagna.

Dad didn’t move. He stared at the dancing flames and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small bear keychain wrapped carefully in plastic. It was the one the school gave me when I won the physics competition in ninth grade.

“Gavin, I dreamed of Lena last night.” Dad’s voice was hoarse. “She was little. We still lived in the farmhouse before moving to Wrenfield. Mosquitoes were bad, and her legs were always covered in bites. Mom sat beside her bed with a small fan all night.”

Gavin sat on the wooden stool, hands tightly clasped, knuckles white. He kept his head down.

“Lena was such a good girl. She pressed that keychain into my hand and said the little bear would keep me safe while I drove.” Dad held it against his thigh, tears tracing his wrinkles. “How could I believe being a strong swimmer meant she was safe? How could I say those words?”

The newspapers in the fire turned to black ash. A gust of wind scattered the pieces.

As for Sadie, I saw her near the municipal waste transfer station on the outskirts of Wrenfield.

She wore a torn padded coat she must have found. Stuffing spilled from the sleeves. Her face was filthy, and her hands were red and swollen.

—

She squatted by a trash bin, using a stick to dig through someone’s leftover food.

A group of high school kids walked by and pelted her with snowballs.

“You’re evil! You’re the one who got your sister killed!”

“You’re a bad person! Even your school does not want you!”

The snowballs exploded on her back. Icy water ran down her collar. Sadie didn’t fight back. She just protected the small piece of moldy bread in her arms, buried her head in her knees, and shook violently.

The pretty face she once cared about most was now pressed into the cold muddy ground, covered in filth.

She used to believe that if she cried, Dad, Mom, and Owen would bring her the best things in the world. Now her tears melted a small pit in the snow, but no one turned around to look at her anymore.

The night wore on. Snow blanketed all of Wrenfield in pure white.

I floated above, watching Gavin carry the empty insulated food container out of the tarp shelter.

He stood in the snow, looking up at the dark sky and letting the snowflakes fall into his eyes.

“Lena, it’s snowing,” he said softly to the air.

I didn’t answer. The wind was strong. It carried away the last thread of my attachment.

When the first light of dawn broke through the clouds and shone on the headstone at Wrenfield Hills Cemetery, my soul finally faded away.

—

Fox Run River kept flowing, carrying away all the sins, the favoritism, and the regret.

In this world, I had once lived with all my heart, and I had been hurt until almost nothing remained.

But as the heavy snow covered the town, the suffering that had lasted so long finally ended.