Our Final Farewell

The door disappeared behind me the moment it closed shut, while I spun an angel key chain around my finger. I'm not sure when I entered the room, I just knew that I had entered it. It was odd, just an empty white room with blank walls and a wooden floor. And in the middle of that floor? A strangely beautiful girl dancing to no music at all. All I could do was sit in the corner and watch.1

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Her moves were graceful, her posture elegant. She seemed to be doing a certain type of dance, yet a dance that was all her own. She moved to a beat that only she could hear, a song only she could sing. But her lips did not move. Her body did all the talking for her.3

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I was entranced instantaneously. As strange and beautiful as she was, how could you not be? And then one day, I suddenly had the urge to play a tune. So she wouldn't have to dance to no music. And then, just like that, a piano appeared in the empty room. Stunned and amazed, I took a seat, and just like that, I began to play.5

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She danced to my music, and as I played, the room changed. Picture frames and strange little trinkets began to cover the empty walls. They looked so familiar, and yet, I couldn't place them. And as I began to look at them and figure out just what each one was, the piano started to move and spin and glide across the floor. I nearly crossed paths with the girl at one point, but she took a sharp left before we could even touch. As I almost collided with the wall, I happened to glance up and see one of the picture frames. And suddenly, I realized just what was beginning to cover the walls. 7

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Memories. That's what I recognized them as. And suddenly a thought occured to me. That's all I'd ever recognize them as. Simply memories...no, /just/ memories. And that's when I realized I was out of tunes to play. Not that it mattered anyways, for the girl had learned to dance with no music before. She could do it again without a flinch, without a backwards glance at me. It wouldn't be that hard. So for a moment, I replayed the first song.9

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When it ended, I stood up, and glanced at the girl. She glanced at me, not a smile on her face (not that there had ever been one), and kept on dancing. It was as I said before, she had learned to dance before with no music. She could easily do it again. I left the piano where it was, circling the room, my gaze going back and forth between the memories on the wall and the girl as she continued to dance.11

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As she passed me, I reached out, trying to touch her. My fingers grazed along her arm, but before I could even get a hold of it she had slipped away, spinning so very far beyond reach. For a moment, I thought she disappeared, but it was only my own tears that blurred my vision.13

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I wiped them away, pretending they had never been there at all, and moved back to the corner I had originally sat in. However, I did not sit down again. That was one thing I refused to do. The startlingly beautiful girl continued to dance and dance in that captivatingly graceful way of hers, but my eyes began to wonder. They traveled the walls, looked over the memories. And after a while of standing there, the music long since done playing, I realized that maybe...maybe it was time to leave.15

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I looked down again, when a shimmer caught my eye. And there, right where it should be, was the door I had entered. I crossed the room, trying to make my way towards it. But it was that moment that the girl crashed into me, and we both fell down. Tangled together and struggling to get up, I felt like the door was getting farther away.17

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I stopped struggling then and turned to look her in the eyes. I used to see something there, but now they were so empty. So empty and blank. Another thought occurred to me: as the blank walls became full, her full eyes became blank. And just as they became blank, I ran out of music to play.19

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So I slowly untangled myself, pulling myself to my feet. I looked down at her, but she didn't move. She continued to lay on her back, staring blankly up at me. No more could I see the beauty that had once captivated me so greatly. No more could I see the elegance that had once held my attention for so long. For a moment, she was just another girl. Another face with a name...but how could that be when I knew her so well? When all the memories on the walls contained her? When she still had my heart? Because it was then that I realized...she didn't have my heart. Not anymore. It was mine again.21

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I stepped over her, careful not to crush her as I passed. One last tear fell down my face as I walked towards the door. My hand on the doorknob, I froze for another moment, tempted to glance at her once more. But I couldn't. I reached in my pocket and pulled out the angel key chain, the one I had been spinning around my finger when I had entered so long ago. I held it tight for a moment, but then my grip loosened and it fell. The sound it made as it hit the hard wood seemed to echo in my ears. 23

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Throwing the door open, I took a step outside. And for the first time in a long time, I felt free. The last of my bonds had been broken; the last threads that kept me hanging on had been cut. I was free again to live as I pleased and to do as I wanted. And although the memories would forever remain in that room, and although the memories would forever remind me of the girl who danced with no music, I would never again play another tune, unless it was for /me/ to dance to.25

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And for the first time in my life, I closed that door softly behind me. I walked away, leaving all the memories behind, just where they should be. And from that day forward, I never looked back. But then again, I could never really forget the strange room of memories either. Even though it was that last day that we ended it all. And the weirdest thing was, I thought, was that I couldn't regret a thing. Not one thing. It had been exactly what I had looked for in closure. Our final farewell.27