“Farewell, Mr Rofocale”
Written by PJ Artama
It was a dim morning. The clouds covered the sky, blotting out the usual warm sun and causing the rest of the temperature to drop. The trees swayed with the cold gust of wind as Kay made her way up to the quarry where Zachriel fell. She carried a wreath of flowers in her arms, wearing all black clothes, save for the golden Luueth’dei Family emblem and the now recently added ruby red Rofocale Family emblem dangling from her necklace, and was trying her absolute best to hold back her tears as she approached the water.
She finally reached the edge of where her best friend had fallen and died and rested the wreath of flowers on the walkway before it. She took a step back but never once took her eyes off of the place where Zachriel met his end.
“I don’t know whether or not you’ll hear this,” she spoke aloud, “but I’d like to just say a few things. Firstly, I read the letter,” she spoke aloud, “and I got the gifts you sent me. Thank you for entrusting me with them. I promise I’ll take care of them. Especially your journal. I’ll make sure that Bobbie gets it back.”
A light wetness started to drip down from the sky, making little wet marks on the wood and little vibrations in the water.
“Secondly, thanks to the money you left me… I’m thinking of planning and building my own Library sometime soon. Isn’t that cool? I’m thinking of purchasing the land near to the quarry and putting it there. Closer to you. I’m not sure what to call it yet, but I want it to be a good name. One that maybe you’d approve of. And… I’m planning on dedicating it to you, because you’re my best friend. You changed my life and taught me so much about the old world and the memories of others… I can’t thank you enough for that.”
She could see and feel the spitting start to become a light rain. The vibrations in the water were starting to become more noticeable.
“And lastly, I want you to know that… and if I can be honest here… it’s been hard… to accept you’re gone. I spent the first month crying myself to sleep, screaming in anguish and wishing it was all a dream. That… That you’d come out of the water and I’d see you by my bed once again. I cursed the heavens above, I cursed the Hethe, I cursed anything I could out of grief. It was probably the worst time of my life. If it wasn’t for my family, Nicholas, Cadmus and Ka’rai especially… I’m not sure if I could’ve coped...”
She tightly clutched the Rofocale emblem around her neck to try and force herself to not cry, feeling the lump in her throat as the light rain still kept going.
“And listen… I… I want you to know that… I miss you every single day… and there’s not a moment where I… don’t sometimes cry myself to sleep… when I think of you and… and all of the things we did t-together over the years… from the day I met you… t-to the night I lost you. I-I’ll never forget those times we shared… and they’ll… th-they’ll be with me… f-f-forever…”
She took off her glasses and put her hand over her eyes as she started crying. Her lips trembled as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“…I-I-I’ll… never forget you… my friend. N-never.”
She cried by herself for a few more minutes as the rain started to increase. She eventually grabbed a handkerchief, wiped her eyes dry and blew her nose. As she opened them, for a split second she thought she saw Zachriel standing in front of her, smiling at her. But as soon as she blinked, he was gone. She stared for a bit at the spot where he was seemingly standing, wondering what that was before remembering the rain coming down on her and she knew she had to go. She began walking away from the walkway but as she got to the gate to leave, she looked back to the water and the flowers she left behind one last time and smiled tearfully.
“Goodbye… and farewell… Mr Rofocale.”
And with that, she turned back around and left the quarry, clutching the Rofocale emblem once more in her hand as the rain poured down from above.
