June 26th, 2016
14 years prior.
The beaming sun shone overhead in the cloudless sky on this blistering summer day.
"Matt! No fair! Give the ball back!"
"No, you have to take it from me, Gabriel. It's basketball."
"What? I don't want to play this! Only those dark people play this!"
"Come on, Gabriel. Play with us," Iris said while smiling brightly at him.
His young face flushed bright red as her eyes met his.
"Ok... I guess."
"Hahaha, come on, let's go!" she called out.
They played together for hours, Iris dominating both Matt and Gabriel as they clumsily tried to mimic her moves.
Playing on the courts, running on the sand, exploring the nearby grove, which was filled with countless different fauna and little critters.
A rose-tinted day of childhood memories.
...
"Come on now, kids, it's time for dinner," Grandma called out from a small house adjacent to the court.
A gentle woman.
Someone so kind that her presence alone was soothing.
The type of person everyone couldn't help but love.
Homey by the beach front, the aged building was of dark oak wood and laden with thin sliding doors around the place.
"Coming!" The three kids yelled, running onto the well-kept yard that lined the front of the house.
Short grass and small ferns brushed their heels as they approached.
"It's curry for dinner!" The old lady smiled warmly and embraced the little kids one by one.
A mouthwatering scent wafted from the kitchen.
On the burner, a large steel pot was filled to the brim with simmering carrots, potatoes, beef, and thick brown sauce.
Grandma scooped steaming hot rice into three separate bowls and poured the curry atop, serving the kids.
They sat down on tall chairs around the dining table, a chandelier coated in diamonds hanging above them.
"What did you all do today?" Grandma asked as they ate their meal.
"We played the black people game!" Gabriel answered excitedly.
He was one to always vie for her attention and try to impress grandma.
"Now, now... not only black people play that game..."
"You're right! Monkeys play it too!"
"No... anyone can play that game, Gabriel," she said, slightly disappointed.
"Okay..." he said begrudgingly.
The kids told stories of their day, grandma listening intently.
"Can we go to the backyard after we're done eating?" Iris asked with her mouth full.
"Yes, but don't eat too fast and don't run afterwards."
"Okay, grandma!"
Gabriel sighed, he never enjoyed spending time in the small backyard and would always wander off to do other things while Matt and Iris stayed.
...
They finished eating and walked outside, surrounding them was a garden heavily filled with greenery and lilies that glowed faintly.
Moonflowers.
"Why do you always want to come here?" Matt asked Iris.
"It's beautiful, don't you think so?"
"It's boring here; we should go play instead," Gabriel cut in.
"Why do you think that?"
"You just sit down and watch the flowers; why would you do that when you could be having fun?
The sun lowered in the sky, with shadows stretching along the three kids' figures and rays of light shining through the cracks in the leaves.
"It's cause... Grandma worked so hard to grow this garden. Isn't it a waste to not enjoy it while we can?"
"What do you mean?" Matt asked Iris.
"Grandma told us... she won't be here for us all the time. That one day we'd be on our own, and we wouldn't have time for things like this."
A barren silence filled the lush garden.
"But... she said that'll be a long time from now. We can still play and go on adventures," Gabriel said dejectedly.
"Maybe, but I want to enjoy it right now."
There was a new mutual feeling of sentimentality between the three.
Gabriel blushed heavily and sat down on the stone bench in the middle of the flowery grove.
"I guess I can stay for a little."
...
"What are you doing here?" Grandma asked.
Night had come, and the last sliver of twilight would disappear from the horizon.
"They wanted to appreciate your garden but they ended up falling asleep..." Matt said, sitting next to the figures of Gabriel and Iris deep in slumber.
"Hmm... All of you? Why so suddenly?"
Matt's pupils drifted to the side of his eyes, "Grandma... What you told Iris... Why did you tell her that we'd be alone?"
She sat beside Matt and lifted his face to her level. The image of the moonflowers blooming enchantingly in the background was reflected in his innocent eyes.
She adjusted his big round glasses and spoke, "Because... I want you kids to be ready when you have to live for yourselves. You understand, right? Someday you'll grow to be an adult."
"Yeah, but you only told Iris and Gabriel; why didn't you tell me..."
"Because I know you'll be the one that understands that when the time comes.
I know how well you adapt to change.
Just like how Iris is so intuitive and Gabriel is so strong-minded, you all have your own strengths, so I want you to rely on each other in the future."
"I see..." Matt kicked his feet, slightly agitated.
"But don't you worry... Grandma will always have your back, even when you do grow up!" She gave a smile, which seemed to light up the dark sky.
...
Later that night, after grandma carried the kids to bed...
She would drive to the hospital in her rundown van and consult her doctor for the usual checkup.
While running blood pressure and nutrient tests, the doctor asked...
"How are the kids?"
"They're fine," Grandma's cold demeanor contrasted with her usual spunk.
"Have you not... told them yet?"
"No... I can't bring myself to do it."
"You said last time you'd have a talk with them, Kiara. I thought liars were the type of people that you hated the most."
Grandma's head drifted downward, and her voice became irritated, "I guess I'm the type of person that would hate themself."
The doctor walked to his computer and began inputting her results before saying, "Regardless of how you feel, they deserve to know... that their time with you is limited."
She chuckled, "I didn't come here for a therapy session with you... How much longer do I have now?"
"...If you became an inpatient and stayed here for more intensive treatment, you could live for a few more years... but I know how you are," the doctor deeply sighed and then replied.
"I'm not rotting away in this hospital and leaving those kids alone... I'd rather be happy with them and die sooner than be depressed in this place while living longer."
"But without the treatment... You won't make it to next year. Your cancer is already at stage 50."
"I'll guess I'll forfeit the treatment... and make the most of my time left then."
...
June 27th, 2016
The day after.
"Good morning, kids! Breakfast is ready!"
The three slowly awakened and groggily got up from bed.
They brushed their teeth and dressed before heading to the dining room.
Today's breakfast was a dish called Bauernfruhstuck, a traditional German omelette.
Gabriel's favorite.
He loved anything about German culture since he was native but never actually experienced the country for himself.
After eating, he would walk to his room and pull a book from the countless under his nightstand.
The cover read "Mein Schatz" in golden bold letters, and the image of a dove was engraved onto it.
Plopping down onto his bed and leaning over, Gabriel read the book for the first time.
"...Aus dem Grunde meines Herzens..."Heute ist mein letzter Tag..."
A tale of an orphan deemed useless at birth who eventually found a path in life and someone who truly cared about him.
"Mit freundlichen Grüßen..."
The orphan and his savior would live together yet even then he was still an outcast in their new life.
Despite trying so hard to become worthy of others...
"Someone who is born in despair, will always remain in despair... an endless cycle."
He lost hope of becoming respected, completely confiding in his person for all his wants and needs as a person.
"You are the only person that understands me."
His savior would die in an accident and blinded by rage, he would rebel against those who oppressed him, those who looked down on him.
But in doing so he forfeit his life.
"Mein Schatz... this world is cruel, but I will sacrifice everything if it means I can be with you... Ich liebe dich."
He fought to his last breath and was reunited with them in the afterlife where he could finally rest easy...
A nihilistic ending that embraced the idea that death is the only true freedom.
Though it was most definitely not the type of story that a young kid would read or enjoy...
Something about it...
Touched Gabriel.
...
The deep blue sky, the smell of salt, the constant sound of crashing waves.
It all surrounded Iris as she watered the white-filled garden with Grandma by her side.
Grandma looked to her and asked, "Iris... Do you like flowers?"
"I do!" Iris said, grinning widely while carefully pouring the water from her pot.
"Ah, I do too... They remind me of when I was younger, specifically these flowers," she said, kneeling down and softly caressing the white petals of the closed perennial.
"Moonflowers?"
"Yes... a young man named Weisenburg once gifted me a bouquet of them, and I've loved the flowers ever since."
"Who's Weisenburg..?"
Grandma lightly laughed as a longing expression spread across her face, "...He's the strongest man in the world. But even with all that power, all he cares about is protecting others... A kind soul."
"Do you look up to him, Grandma?"
"I guess so..."
"Hehaha, do you like him or something?" Iris asked with mischeviously.
"Haha, not quite...
Listen Iris, right now it may seem silly, but one day you'll meet someone just like him.
Someone whose ideals and beliefs you look up to and adopt for yourself.
But until that day comes... you should live your life being kind to others."
"Yes, grandma..." Iris said as her laughter died down.
...
Matt walked away after listening to the conversation from afar, "Grandma spends so much time with Iris... it's not fair."
He crossed the street and approached a nearby grove, a dirt path leading into the endless trees.
"Maybe it's cause she reminds Grandma of her younger self," he said to himself, entering the forest brush.
The sun partially shone through the canopy of leaves above, creating dancing patterns upon Matt's young face.
"She even gives Gabriel more attention than me.
I don't know why she coddles those two so much..."
The image of small scurrying critters glinted in Matt's glasses as he pushed forward through the foliage.
"They aren't worthy of calling her "Grandma..."
They aren't even her real grandchildren...
They're just kids who were taken in by her...
They're just kids that she adopted."