WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS PT. I

Two and a half weeks had passed since the towers fell.

It was late afternoon on a Friday. The sun was out with clouds in the sky. The birds chirped and crickets trilled in a meadow surrounded by hills and trees. Two high school seniors, a boy and a girl, stood in a field of wildflowers together.

We’ll call them James and Rachel.

James and the Rachel looked deeply into each other’s eyes and shared kisses. James sighed.  

“Come here,” he said.

Rachel embraced him and felt safe.  

James held her and closed his eyes. When James opened them, he began speaking.

“Look how far we’ve come in this trip around the sun. Summer’s leaving us again,” he said.

Rachel rubbed his back gently and listened to him. James continued.

 “You know how they say that life is short? How fragile it is.”  

Rachel frowned. Her mouth opened slightly as if she had something to say but the words couldn’t come out. Her eyes lowered. Her grip on James fell loose. James pulled away and grabbed her arms to look Rachel in the eyes.

“On that day, all our dreams were taken from us. Everything that we stand for, everything that we live for.  Gone, just like that,” he said.

Rachel’s face was blank, she was expressionless. She didn’t want to relive the tragedy anymore. She was tired, she wanted to heal. She fixed her gaze deep into James’s eyes. James paused to look at her and searched the ground for his next thought.  

“I feel like now things are changing. And people change too, you know? And circumstances change. And situations change. And things just change, you know?” James fumbled his words as he looked down.

Rachel bit her lips and shook her head slightly in disagreement. She rubbed James’s cheeks and chin with her thumbs. James finally looked up at Rachel.

“I just want you. And I want this. How we are right now. I want this to last forever,” James said squinting.

Rachel smiled, but her face read worry. She looked James in the eyes and spoke softly.

“It will. We’ve always had each other, and we always will. And things change, but nothing is gonna ever change that,” her voice cracking as she fought back tears. 

James knew what was to come. He was still, but his eyes scanned hers like he was tracking a tennis match. Rachel got nervous and perked up. She spoke faster.

“I just want you to know that no matter what I’m always here for you. Always. I’m never gonna leave you. Okay? I’m never gonna leave you,” she said rubbing James’s face.

James leaned in to give Rachel a peck. 

“I love you,” she whispered. James smiled at her.

 “I know,” he said. “I know.” 

He kissed her again and they embraced tightly. Neither of them wanted to let go. They looked off in opposite directions in the vast plain.

“Don’t ever leave me,” she said. 

“I won’t,” James said with his eyebrows raised.

“Don’t ever leave me,” she whispered again.

“I won’t, I won’t,” James said again in a hushed voice, shaking his head.

The sun was setting. James and Rachel made their way back toward the neighborhood, venturing across the field hand in hand. When Rachel got a headache, James carried her on his back the rest of the way. It was a long way to go, but he carried her anyway. Only James knew this would be the last time he carried Rachel in the meadow for a very long time, if ever again.