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Epilogue - [4/5]

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Epilogue - [4/5]
Memories In Their
Immortal Form
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After the conversation with Ryan and Linda passed on, I entered the house with a spark of motivation. A motivation that wanted me to do something. It didn't take me long to find myself standing in front of my bedroom wall, staring at the hoards of pictures I had taken over the course of the past decade. Miss Lynn recommended that I did this a few years back. Ever since she passed away just a week after, I promised both myself and Julia that her words wouldn't be forgotten.

This resulted in my entire wall being covered in Polaroid photos and printed pictures. Most were of friends and family, special events, and cut pages from newspaper articles that my mom snuck onto the wall. I couldn't help but spare a smile, giggling quietly. What a beautiful person she is. Sighing to myself, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Peeling the pictures off, I let them rest in organized piles on my bed. Memories washed over me as I recognized them in their immortal form, and a dance of a smile was on my face.

It was then that I decided that I would put my most important memories in the center of the wall.

Pictures of my parents were plastered on carefully, outlining a heart that I would fill in. Then came pictures of Ryan and Stephanie, accompanied by our graduation photos, outings, and celebrations. Julia and Leo were added on, even if the picture could barely catch their spiritual forms on the film. After I attached them onto my wall, there was a small convenient space in the middle, enough for a single photo. I looked at the scattered memories on my bed, picking up the one photo that was dear to my heart. As I reached for the roll of tape, I felt my heart in my throat, but I swallowed it down.

This was the only photo I had of Lukas.

It was the day I showed him and his sister Lyra the true extent of my powers. She had taken the picture on her phone, where Lukas was sitting on porch swing, staring at me as I was feeding the fish in their backyard's pond. The smile on his face was still so mesmerizing to me, even with all the time I had to get over him. I'll never get over him. A finger ran over the edges of the picture, smoothing it down against the wall. My spirits felt high as I took a step back, looking at past two hours of work.

Not bad, Meredith.

A rush of happiness filled my chest.

Not bad.

Stretching my arms above me, I let out a heaving sigh, collapsing onto my beanbag chair. I pressed a button on my computer, and while I waited for it to wake up, I grabbed a piece of paper, scribbling down my thoughts.

I love you.
- Meredith

My pen looped the last stroke, creating a small heart at the end of my name. The monitor flashed, and my hand glowed blue, letting the strip of paper pass through the screen. It was a habit I had after improving my Dream Factory attribute— but I knew it would get me nowhere. Somewhere in the parallel worlds, there were strips upon strips of paper with my writing on them, floating in a realm of empty, black space. All of them were addressed to Lukas, who I knew would never receive them.

It helps, being able to let go of words I wanted to say.

Resting my head in my arms, the world became quiet for a moment. I heard the reminiscent sound of his voice, which only cracked my heart even more, though it was easy to bare with after feeling this way for so long. We never really did get to say goodbye to each other. Just the thought made me frown. Before I could fall asleep on my desk, a piece of paper flew out of the open portal and hit me on my forehead. I sat up immediately, hissing to myself as my hand went up to where the crumbled paper made contact. Staring down at the paper, my cheeks puffed.

"Weird..." I mumbled, picking it up.

They never come hurling back at me.

Unraveling the sheet carefully so that it didn't tear, I saw messy scrawls in blue ink smeared on the page. It seemed to be done in a rush, as the strokes were hard to recognize and the smearing of the ink was visible. Fortunately, I recognized who it belonged to.

we cant be together
we live on opposite ends of the parallel worlds
- Lukas

My shock when realizing this was written by Lukas was immediately mislead when I saw wet stains at the bottom of the page, almost like he was crying while writing this. Is this... just a fluke? Or is it real? Picking up my pen, I quickly wrote down my response at the bottom of the page before sending the paper back. The portal disappeared after it.

And you think that'll stop me from loving you?
- Meredith