Page 116 of June First

He can’t think that I hate him. God, he can’t think that at all.

“We came first…Mario and Luigi, right?” A nostalgic smile twitches on my mouth, and for a moment I pretend the paramedic is Brant. I picture his dark hair and dimples, his hazel eyes glimmering with grief. I turn this blurry stranger into my brother.

I pretend that he’s Brant because I need him to be Brant.

“I need you…to be Mario, now.”

I think I hear giggles.

Childlike giggles.

Calling to me, beckoning me.

Not yet. Not yet.

“Take care of Peach because…no one…” My eyelids flutter. My throat tightens. My heartbeats stutter and slow. “No one will ever love her…like we do.”

I start to fade out.

Dizzying lights flicker in my mind’s eye.

I think I hear something, a horrible cry, a ghastly moan, but it dissolves into the giggles still tempting me someplace else. “Promise me…you’ll tell him, right?”

Tell Brant. Please, tell Brant. He has to know.

I’m not sure if the medic ever responds, but I think he does.

He must.

He must promise me because something inside of me releases.

A burden. A weight.

I feel free.

Sound evaporates as I drift away, clinging to those giggles I hear echoing in the distance. Just beyond the beacon of light.

I race toward them.

Peace blankets me as I run, my bare feet tickled by grass blades while I chase a ladybug through the backyard. There’s a sword in my hand. A gallant sword, designed for battle.

Created for saving worthy things.

Those worthy things are sprinting beside me through the yard, young Brant on my right and a tiny June on my left. Her soft curls are glowing in the golden sunset, smelling of baby powder and lilacs. We collapse underneath our magical tree house with adventure in our eyes and innocence in the air.

Brant moves in next to me, and we sit shoulder to shoulder with a little princess tucked safely between us. He looks over at me with a watery smile. “I’ll take care of her, Theo. I promise.”

I smile back as the sun settles behind a fluffy cloud.

We’re happy here.

We’re untouchable.

We’re forever young.

“I know you will.”

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