The sound of rushing waters can be heard clearly. The waves of the oceans splash against the rocks. Lying on the bare sand, Abigail sighed. Not out of pain or sorrow but out of longing.
She recalled the sweet times she had spent at this very beach with Evans, her younger brother. Heck, he was her only brother. Those times were clearly the best she could recall in all her twenty-one years of living.
”Where are you Evans? I miss you.”
These were the words she whispered to herself as she lay right there.
Flash back
Evans and Abigail were the only children of a rich aristocratic family. Their parents were in love and this love was expressed freely and known to all. Abigail and Evans were just two years apart but they were so close like twins. They did everything together and even slept in the same room.
On Abigail's tenth birthday party, while guests were drinking, dancing and chatting happily with her parents, a group of thugs stormed into the birthday hall and started shooting randomly. Many were injured while some guests managed to hide in safety. Abigail watched as her father and mom were shot at the spot. She screamed but it was like no one heard her. Shocked at what had become of her celebration, she fainted.
Abigail squinted her eyes, trying to adjust it to the brightness of the room. When she finally opened her eyes, she noticed that she was lying on a bed. The smell of antiseptics, spirits and iodine filled her nostrils. A sharp pain on her left arm brought her attention to the needle stuck in her arm, connected to an I.V drip. ”Where am i?” She muttered inaudibly.
Fortunately, a nurse was just in time to check on her. ”Oh Miss, you are finally awake. This is good. Let me go and call the doctor” . With that she left Abigail alone to return with a doctor.
The doctor carried out his routine check-up before finally conversing with her. ”Miss, are you in pain anywhere?”
Abigail nodded in the negative. She tried to sit up but found it difficult. ”You don't need to stress yourself out, Miss. You have been asleep for five days so naturally your body is feeling weak. Just rest a while and you will be ready to go home”, the doctor told her with a reassuring smile.
”How did I get here?” She asked still in disbelief. ”You were rushed in here by your aunt. She said you fainted at your party. She will be here soon. Just relax and get better soon”. The doctor left her ward back to his office while the nurse attended to her.
Shortly after, her aunt came to see her and that was when she found out that her brother Evans had been kidnapped. The police had been dispatched but there were no clues to his whereabouts and no calls from the kidnappers as well. No one knew if he was dead or alive.
Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. The search intensified yet no news was forthcoming. After five years, Abigail's family decided to treat Evans like he was dead. Only Abigail held onto his memories as she believed that Ebmvans was still alive.
Her days never passed by without her rekindling her fond memories shared with her brother. She would visit the places that Evans loved visiting when they were kids and still a family.
Present day
It has been ten years since Evans' disappearance. No news about him anymore. In fact, no one mentioned him anymore. The family had long since kept his memories away, treating him like one dead, lost and forgotten but not to Abigail.
She believed that fate would bring them together again. She was hopefully as she lay on that sand recalling beautiful memories of her and Evans as they would build sand castles and place their flags in them to show ownership. She was always faster than Evans in building sand castles and this always made him unhappy but she would appease him with some candy and all will be well.
Using a small bucket, Abigail began to build sand castles again just like when they were kids. This time she built one for herself and one for Evans. She began to decorate both castles just the way they used to as kids. She smiled staring at her finished work longingly. It was like she could see Evans smiling back at her lovingly.
She knew that these memories will always remain in her heart, always and forever until the end of time.
Thank you for reading.
Images used were imagined with Meta Ai.