I'll Miss You But I'll Move On

• Ivy Nguyen, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

Everything reminded Madeline of her. The grimy headstone stood in front of Madeline. She took out the wilted white orchids from the clear vase, unpacked her bag and placed everything on the grass.“Today, I brought gladiolus!” Madeline said, smiling. “I’m pretty sure that this was your favourite flower.” Flora loved those flowers. Madeline took the flower out of its packaging and placed it carefully into the vase. It had a long green stem with bright pink flowers blooming on it. “It symbolises honour and faithfulness,” Madeline grabbed a jug of water from the ground and poured a small amount of water into the jug. Madeline stared up into the sky. The sky was overcast with clouds. “The rain will probably water the flowers,” Madeline said, squinting into the sky. Madeline brought out a cloth and started to rub the grime off the headstone. “God, it’s really windy today,” Madeline said to herself as she started to scrub off the dirt.

“Flora, I’m not going to lie,” Madeline said as her voice started to shake. Her legs shivered as the wind got harsher. “I miss you so much,” Madeline's throat tightened. “And sometimes I wish that I could have done more for you,” Tears started to drop onto the headstone like a light shower of rain. “And on bad days, I want to join you,” Madeline sniffed and tried to wipe away her tears with her coat sleeve. “But you’ll be mad at me if I did that wouldn’t you?” Madeline could almost hear her response but she knew that it wasn’t real. “Yes I would, don’t take your life for granted!” Madeline smiled a little. “You said to live without you but I don’t know how,” Madeline admitted. “But I think I’m starting to,” Madeline wiped the tears off the headstone. “I’m just taking my time. At the start I was quite a wreck though,” She awkwardly chuckled. “Everything reminds me of you and I miss you so much,” Madeline smiled sadly. “But I’ll be ok, maybe not right now, but I will,” Madeline started to pack away everything. “She started to walk away but stopped. She turned around and whispered three words. “I love you.”