Whispers in the Meadow

III

I went to the meadow again to see her, as I had every week for the past five years. This time, I took Makayla with me. I thought Vaysia might finally want to meet her little sister. 

The flowers were even more beautiful than usual. Pinks, purples, greens, whites, blues, yellows, they all danced in the wind as I walked through them. I grinned, knowing Vaysia kept the meadow as beautiful as ever. 

"Vaysia?" I called. "Where are you? Why are you hiding?" 

There was no reply. For the millionth time, I wondered if she was angry about Makayla. I called out to her again, but the only answer was that of the wind. I sat down and began picking flowers from the meadow, one by one. Makayla followed my example and began picking flowers with me. Pink, red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, pink, red, orange...

"Stop!" a voice cried out. I looked down at the yellow dandelion I was about to pick. I looked back up to see Vaysia staring back at me. 

"I wasn't hiding," Vaysia said. She kneeled down into the flowers. The flowers made a circle for her so she wouldn't sit on any of them. "Why are you here?" Her voice was soft with dread. I was confused. She was normally overjoyed to see me. 

"Why are you pushing me away?" I asked. 

"I'm not," Vaysia said. "I'm trying to help you." Suddenly, Vaysia noticed little Makayla. "Who's this?" 

"That's your little sister," I said. "Her name is Makayla." 

Vaysia smiled. "See? You have so much going on without me." 

"What do you mean?" I asked. 

"I'm gone," Vaysia said softly. "You have to accept that. I died five years ago. You have to let me go." 

I started to cry. "I don't want to. I want Makayla to have to an older sister. I want to have my daughter back. I don't want to lose you forever." I paused, letting the tears fall. "When you died, I thought I'd lost you forever. But then you came back, to this meadow. Even if you aren't quite real, you're still here." 

"I can't leave this place," Vaysia said. "I used to love this meadow, but now it's my prison. I'm stuck here in this beautiful prison." She paused. I tried to take her hand, but she pulled away. 

"Makayla," I said, "go pick some more flowers for me." Makayla nodded and ran off farther into the meadow. 

"But," Vaysia continued, brushing her curls out of her face, "if you let me go, if you stop needing me, then I can go rest in peace. Please." 

"I... I can't," I said. I got up and ran, taking Makayla with me, wishing she hadn't asked me such a difficult thing. And behind me I left a beautiful meadow and stunned Vaysia.