8 May 2012
Jacob watched the sky change colours.
Regal red, cerulean blue.
At his side, Skyler was stretched along the grass - just as he was.
They stayed silent, just watching the dark clouds race languidly across the sky.
It was not a clear night, but there was a beauty to the dark clouds - despite how they threatened rain, the two didn't move.
'Jacob?' Skyler broke the silence.
'Mhmm?' Jacob turned to look at her, lazily. He stretched his fingers out to touch hers.
His fingertips barely grazed her skin before the flesh of her hands began to flicker in and out of existence.
Jacob sat up straight, panicked.
'Skyler? Don't fade!' Jacob tried to grasp her skin. 'Skyler. It's not your time - Skyler, please, don't-'
Skyler's face, barely there, was pale. Scared. Lines of fear creasing her forehead like bent pages of a book.
Skyler was fading - it could happen to anybody. But not Skyler. Never Skyler. Jacob loved Skyler.
The sky suddenly didn't seem so entrancing. It seemed ominous and mocking - as if it had always known about Skyler's time-bomb tendency.
Skyler was a wisp of existence. She was an echo. She was almost nonexistent.
All the happiness Jacob has felt just moments ago was gone. Vanished along with Skyler.
He wished he'd faded with her.
If only.
Short Story: Fading. • Opuss № I