Left foot forward, right foot to the side, left foot follows, now backward, and repeat. Am I messing up the steps, Laurie?

The wood of the cabin creaked, a humming melody followed the remains of a pale ghost, walking from the door to the cloth-hangers outside, dancing with the sunbeams and spinning with her favourite dresses.

"Laurie," I called on to her, once, twice, and another, but she didn't answer.

The sunbeams grew darker until they were no brighter than a mere crescent moonbeam. It was just me, lost in the here and now of this place, a home that used to be ours, has sunk to become only a roofed house. Darkness surrounded the lone forest, and the lights of the cabin stood submissive when joy had died together with its owner. A chair was waiting by the terrace, for its mother to come home.

Lauren Aubrey taught me how to dance, because dancing was her favourite thing to do. I wished I could have one last dance with her, and if our story was but a fantasy, I wished its writer would let her live forever.

A lift and a spin, and I hugged her ghost a little bit tighter, closer, but never too real. The sharp rocks and pebbles had made me bleed, but none of that could bring her back to me. I looked at my hands, and mourned at the ring who had lost its pair. It wasn't a priestly promise, but it was sincere.

Before I could save my tears, raindrops held my hands, gently at first, then firmly, until it seemed that the world was crying with me, telling me that it's okay to cry, that it's only right to cry because while I lost someone I loved, the world had lost a beautiful soul who loved, for its entirety, its creatures, its gifts and flaws, and everything whatever it was, my Laurie had celebrated with a smile.

She went away in peace, I thought, and the trees quivered in agreement.

I returned a smile to the world and the skies, thank you for bringing her to me.

It was getting late, the sky replied. With half a resolved heart, I hopped in to the car, adjusting the side view mirror so that the ghostly place wouldn't tempt me to stay. It was an hour past midnight, and I meant to get enough rest to catch my plane that evening.

After the rain stopped, most of the drive back was silent. The night had fallen asleep, and even the crickets were hiding from the sound of my engine. I turned on the radio, switching over busy channels, until I settled at channel 4. Last Cup of Coffee was playing, a cover sung by Laurie's favourite artist, a happy song, bittersweet lyrics, coming out as rustic from my dusty speakers.

I couldn't recall the last cup of coffee I shared with Laurie. She never liked coffee; what she liked was mild tea with peppermint. I was recollecting the names of things that are Laurie-personified, still driving a straight lane ahead, but not noticing something was crossing the road.

I hadn't had my consciousness to hit the brakes. I killed it. Whatever it is that was crossing, I had run over with my jeep tyre.

There were no other cars on the road. Nobody caught me committing an act of folly, but somehow, I wished there was somebody who had seen that and scold me, judge me, somebody whom I could confess my sins to.

It was a deer, and a mother, too. She must've just finished breastfeeding her fawns because milk was still polished over her breasts. Her neck was bleeding actively as I had injured one of her large vessels. I took off my shirt to press on her active bleeding, but her pulse was already very weak.

I'm sorry. Please don't die. Please don't die... Please, I'm sorry. I wished so badly that she would recover, that the burden of ruining a family is not on my shoulders. Please... (if saying it five hundred times could reverse the accident, I'd count mine). But regretting doesn't make me less of a bad person.

I may have stopped her bleeding, but she had already lost a lot of blood, because I wasn't driving properly. My hands were stained with blood and murder, and I could only imagine how frightened her baby fawns would be if they had seen these hands... and how miserable they would spend their next mornings without their mother.

I looked up at the sky, and dared not ask why. It was my fault, and I owned it. It was my guilt, and I wanted so badly to pay equal.

The least I could do was give her a proper burial, and although I didn't have any tools with me, I made sure she was wholly covered in warm earth, lest the night becomes long and cold.

I uttered my last apology and placed a fallen lily flower on her sorrowful grave, wiping the last trace of soil and blood onto some leaves before returning to the car.

I was about to start the engine and resume my journey, before suddenly, my composure leaped at the knocking of the window.

There stood sternly, an old grey-haired man with freckles all over his face. He acted suspicious, but his blue eyes shone with many years of wisdom, deeply-creased and giving an intense stare which, in a way, told me that he wasn't there to hurt anyone.

"Help," he asked for help, but he wasn't asking.

"Help," he motioned for me to follow, pointing at a direction.

Maybe, this was how the universe wanted me to repay for what I did.

With no ill thoughts, I unlocked the door and followed the man, who was then running. The cold air pushed thorns against my bare torso, but I only accepted it as a fitting punishment, gaining pace to run alongside the man, hoping to be in time for whatever help was needed.

We arrived at the bridge I had crossed several minutes ago. It towered over a river that wasn't too far down, an unnamed river that only served as a passing point to road trippers.

"Help," the man pointed at a shimmering spot in the river. It didn't belong to the moon or the streetlamp. It was a strange shimmer from underwater, growing smaller as if drowning.

"What is it? You found a treasure chest?" I asked the strange man.

"No," the man looked into my eyes and gave me that desperate stare again, "a person."

At the discovery that it was a person who's drowning, I wasted no time to think or decide. It was as clear as air that I wasn't going to fail again today. Knowing the depths weren't harmful for me to jump, I dived off the bridge and into the river.

And that was how Cassius Moon rippled the waters underneath the eight planets that aligned that night, marking the fate of one certain outcome in the near future.

Sometimes remembering

Here left was I

Old teacups and expired tea

* I kissed he and •

Came June when

Closer crept farewells

As he brewed those

˚ ○ Like dried leaves • °

Love sweetened

And longing lingers

' ( ( ( ( ( Inside, forever in ) ) ) ) ) ˚

.  ( ( ( These preserving ) ) ) .

( ೃ*ೃ༄ Memories ⋆. ೃ* :･)

( ( ( Preserving these ) ) )

( ( ( ( ( In forever, inside ) ) ) ) )

. • ° Lingers longing and . ˚ ○

Sweetened love

Leaves dried like •

Those brewed he as

Farewells crept closer

When June came

And he kissed I

Tea expired and teacups old

I was left here

Remembering some times.

              I swam towards the source of light. It was a drowning girl, but I didn't understand how was she glowing.

I carried her out of the water and was very much relieved her pulse still sufficed. She coughed water out, and was still breathing, but had already gone unconscious. Her temperature was very cold, and she only wore a very thin, white maiden dress. Her hair was as icy blonde as pearl, her figure was shy, and she looked about 20 years old.

I carried her up the stone-built stairs by the side of the bridge while calling for the man, only to find that he was no longer there. In fact, the world felt so quiet I wouldn't be believing any of this if I wasn't already carrying the strange girl.

I figured it was still closer to drive to the cabin than to the city. I needed to clothe myself and the freezing girl, and to light up some fire. I repeatedly cursed myself for not keeping spare clothes in the car.

At the cabin, I laid the girl on the couch near the fireplace and stacked her with thick comforters. I fell asleep on the rocking chair beside her, drifting away from the troubles of night as the fire crackles creeped closer to my wandering senses.

By a distance, I could almost hear an unowned voice, "The night never falls asleep."

A/n: Thank you for reading! I'm trying to set off an eerie melancholic vibe in the first and second chapters, what do you think? Your thoughts and critics would be very much valued! Kindly show your support by sharing, commenting, voting, or adding this novel to your reading list <3

Yours truly,

Kesha Keeps