AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was silent. I swallowed hard, my heart aching at the thought of waking up alone again. But we made the most of our remaining time. We crowded our lives with adventures—road trips, movies, and eating out at hole-in-the-wall diners.
The day before Ben's departure, we indulged in an experience neither of us would ever forget. It was a warm December day, so we decided to take a discounted hot air balloon ride. We bundled up and soared over the city like birds released from a cage. The basket rocked gently as we ascended, and I watched Ben's face, amazed, as he gazed at the world below us.
"Is it everything you thought it would be?" I asked.
"It's more," he marveled. "It's like touching the heavens without being a part of them. I think it’s a different kind of freedom."
As we floated over the city, Ben reached out toward the balloon's flame and then pulled his hand back quickly with a grin. "Even heat feels...alive.”
We took selfies, the skyline our backdrop, and for a moment, our impending separation seemed a lifetime away. When we finally touched down, he hugged me like he'd never let go.
"That was amazing, Logan. It's another memory I'll keep with me, something to sustain me through the winter months."
When the clock ticked toward midnight, we returned to the same circle where I'd brought Ben back to life. The air felt heavy with the weight of his looming farewell.
He stood opposite me, his eyes meeting mine as if searching for something to hold onto. "I have some things for you," he said, pulling out a small, hand-carved wooden box. Inside were mementos: a sketch he'd drawn of us, a pebble from the beach where we'd watched the sunrise, and a scrap of paper with lyrics from our favorite song.
"Think of these when I'm not here," he whispered.
I took a deep breath, struggling to keep my voice steady and not break down. "And what will you take with you?"
Ben touched his heart and then mine. "This. Us. It's my world, Logan.”
The emotional gravity of the moment wrapped around us, yet we could still crack smiles as we fought back tears. "I'm counting the days until spring," I said.
"As will I," he replied. His voice was soft and low.
We hugged, and his scent filled my senses. I committed it to memory, knowing it would be a long winter without it. He leaned in, and our lips met one more time—a kiss filled with promises and silent prayers for a swift reunion.
He stepped back into the circle, his outline glowing against the flickering candles. "I promise to come back to you, Logan."
And then he was gone, evaporating into a mist that floated away into the night sky. I stood there for a long time, staring at the spot where he'd been, grappling with the harsh reality of a life without Ben, if only for a season.
Days turned into weeks, and my life, once brimming with Ben’s laughter and warmth, felt hollow again. Fortunately, Lucy was there. She had an innate ability to sense when I was spiraling.
One evening, she showed up at my door unannounced, her arms loaded with bags from a hipster food joint I’d visited once. "I got us falafel and some of those weird kale chips you said you love. My treat."
She didn't wait for an invitation, breezing past me into the living room and laying out our feast on the coffee table. As we ate, she made me laugh, something I hadn’t done for too long. She had a knack for storytelling, animating her tales with zesty impersonations of our mutual friends and eccentric neighbors.
On a particularly rough day, my phone buzzed with a message from Lucy: "Feeling down? Look out your window." There she was, outside, holding a sign that read, "Smile, you're too cute to frown."
It was ridiculous, embarrassing, and precisely what I needed to get through Ben’s absence. She had a gift for making the unbearable bearable.
When nights were rough, Lucy took it up a notch. "I found this incantation for lifting spirits; want to give it a shot?" And so, in the same circle where we’d performed Ben’s transformation ritual, Lucy and I chanted words of positivity and renewal. Did it work? I can't say for sure, but it made the night a little less dark.
With each gesture, each attempt to distract or console me, I found myself clinging a little less to my loneliness. Lucy’s unwavering support wasn't a replacement for what I'd had with Ben, but it was a lifeline, one that kept me from completely sinking. And for that, I was infinitely grateful.
As March rolled in, whispers of spring began to appear. Crocuses burst out of the soil, dotting gardens with their purple and yellow blossoms. I noticed a pair of robins flitting around a budding tree. Each little sign of renewal felt like a nudge, a wink from the universe telling me the season was changing.
One morning, the sun broke through the remaining winter clouds and flooded my living room with light. It cast a golden glow over the sketches and paintings Ben left behind as if knowing their creator would soon return. My heart swelled with anticipation, and for the first time in months, I let myself feel happy.
Ben
As I felt myself take form, it was like opening a door and walking through it. As soon as I crossed the threshold, I was solid, fully human again. My toes tingled on the apartment's hardwood floor.
I took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar sandalwood scent of Logan’s candles with a new touch of vanilla. It was warm and inviting.
It was a far cry from the ghostly scent that drifted through the Gathering Grove in the spectral world, a place where ghosts like me congregated. We could smell hints of our past lives, but it was like inhaling the memory of a perfume, a teasing reminder that was never fully satisfying.
