Can't Help but Love Him

Unnecessarily Close

     ELIZABETH'S PERSPECTIVE

 It had been two weeks since Papa left home.

Mommy tried texting, calling and tracking his phone, but there was no luck. I was mostly sad because he had promised me pancakes when he came back. I really liked pancakes.

One night, I was walking Eddie, my frog down to my room. I had decided to sleep downstairs, so I went passed Mommy's room. She was crying, like how she had the past few nights. This time, I heard her mumbling to herself.

"That... that coward....!" She said in between sniffles. I stopped momentarily outside her door, listening to her sobs.

"How dare he leave... his children!" She repeated the words over and over, crying into her pillow. I cracked open her door, peering at her. When I got a closer look, I realized she was clutching her stomach.

"Mommy...?" My hand began to shake, and I felt Eddie slip out and fall onto the floor. She gasped, turning around to face me. She had something in her hands, and quickly tried to hide it from me.

For just a moment, I saw a glimmer of strong hatred in her eyes. It wasn't aimed at me, but it made me freeze in place from fear. It took her a second to calm down, but she eventually eased her body back on the bed.

"Go to bed, my love. I'll explain everything in the morning." She trembled. I nodded, scooping up Eddie from the floor.

The morning came, and Mommy was completely silent throughout the day. Same with the day after, and the day after that. Only at Papa's funeral did she finally say something.

"Why did you have to leave?" She murmured, stroking the side of his lifeless face.

Once it was over, I went around the back of the church to look at Papa's grave once more. The ground was wet, so my butt got soaked when I sat next to his stone.

We had gone all the way to New York to bury him, where he lay really closely to another guy's grave. I crouched closer, squinting my eyes to read the name. Ansel... no, Axel? Axel Johnson. Poor Papa, didn't even have any space in the afterlife.

I sighed, flopping down on the wet grass. I didn't know why he had died, but I missed him.

I laid there for a while, wondering when Mommy would come and find me. Faint footsteps began to approach from behind me, so I closed my eyes and pretended like I was asleep.

To my surprise; no one spoke. Someone was definitely there though, I could feel their shadow leaning over me. I slowly opened my eyes, just to peek at who was looking at me.

He was unnecessarily close to me, closely examining my face. "Wait... what are you?" he asked.

"Why would you need to know?" I asked, examining his in return.

He leaned down even closer, until I could feel his breath on my face. "Are you dead? You look pale."

"I am not dead, you cheeky monkey." I defended. "But my dad is, he's right there." I say, pointing to the gravestone at my feet.

"Mine too." He sighs, coming to lie down next to me. He was a very strange boy, inviting himself to sit with me like this. I didn't know who he was, or what he was doing here.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Kenny. Kenny J." He states.

"What's the 'J' stand for?" I ask.

"Anyway, who are you?" He said. 

"Ellie. No, Elizabeth." I didn't want him to use the nickname Papa had called me.

"Wha- huh? That's too long, I liked Ellie!" He complained. "Um, how about Lizzie? That works, right?"

"Sure. You won't be using it, anyway." I huffed.

"That's cold, Lizzie."

We sat in silence for a while, and he kept sneaking glances at me. 

"Do you miss him?" He asked.

"Yes." I answered. "What about you?"

"Yeah, my dad was the best. He got me ice cream after school," He smiled.

"Err, wrong! My dad was the best. He flew with me to Seattle to see rain." I said.

"Your dad's just rich. Where even is that?" He scoffed, lying back onto the ground.

"In Washington. And he wasn't just rich, he was nice. I miss him." I said. 

He turned me around to face him, and I could tell that he had a plan. 

"How about this, we can keep each other company. Instead of our dads." He decides.

"But I don't even live here, I'm going back home soon." I said, rolling my eyes. 

"Me too. Where's your house?"

"You tell me first."

"Lets say it at the same time," He offered.

We counted to three, then shouted it aloud. 

"London." He said.

"London," I said.

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😁🤚🏽

this isn't going to be a story, this is just what happens next. thought yall ought to know in honor of 40k views. Bye Bye!