It's never the end

The wind whipped through the air, a lingering chill as its only confirmation of existence. The scent of nature engulfing the inhabitants of the woods.

A young woman walked along the cobblestone trail, her scarlet red hair dancing along with the breeze, tangling into an unruly knotted mass, her small and flushed red face set and determined, her back facing a little cottage, her home.

She moved quickly and clutched her thin oversized sweater, shaking, moving fast to forget the cold penetrating her jeans.

"I should have never have worn this outfit!" she lectured herself. "It's the middle of winter for god's sake!"

"But at least Alex would be happy seeing me wear his sweater." she reminded herself.

It was her brothers best sweater, after all, it smelt like him. Like the woods, cologne, lavender. He loved lavender. The one she got for him 10 years before. She smiled to herself sadly. The same brother who was going to the army.

In a distance, She could see the bridge over the river, a beautiful but ancient bridge where tourist flocked on during sunset, the view mesmerizing and memorable, and the only tourist attraction in her tiny, little town in the middle of the woods, where she had lived her entire life, the little town of Rye.

The bridge was bare, not a single soul in sight. Well, that is, if you didn't count her brother, who's red hair was obvious from afar.

He wore his best long winter coat, a navy blue turtle neck sweater and jeans, which made his skin look pale and his freckles like a splash of paint. He looked incredibly handsome and she secretly puffed with pride at being his little sis.

He was watching as the last of the rays of the sunset sank below the river and hadn't seemed to notice his sister had approached him, even with her teeth chattering.

"Hey"

He whipped to face her, his face registering surprise, then he relaxed. He managed to shoot her a small, quick grin.

"Hey"

A comfortable silence.

"So this is it, "She exclaimed, looking straight into his bright green eyes. Actually, looking up at his eyes. He was way taller than her.

"I guess," he commented, his green eyes searching her sad and tired blue ones.

He pulled a lock of her hair behind her ear. He always loved doing that.

They seemed so calm, cool and collected. She can assure you, they were miles from that.

"Do you remember when we use to play skimming stones during the weekend when we were kids on this bridge?..........."

"And we deliberately try to get each other wet with the heaviest stones and end up home soaking wet." he finished

The glanced at each other and erupted in laughter at the memory of their 7 and 9-year-old selves dripping wet, with their missing front teeth and year-long lisps, their red hair plastered on their foreheads.

Their laughter eventually trailed to silence in remembrance of her brother's departure.

He glanced at her -his- sweater and grinned. She knew he'd like it. Or it was possibly his way of mocking her at how ridiculous she looked in it. His face was blank, impossible to read. Either way, at least he was smiling.

She gazed at him, resulting in memories of childhood to erupt in her brain, all the moments she had spent with her oldest sibling, her brother, who was going away. Her eyes were watering but she fought them off, promising herself not to cry.

"Do you have to go, Alex?" her voice was cracking

He paused.

"Trypheana, I want to."

Her vision blurred and she couldn't take it anymore, screw her promise. She burst into tears and sobbed so hard, her head was throbbing. Alexander pulled her close and let her cry on his shoulder. For how long she cried, she had no clue, but for why she cried, she could tell you as clear as day.

She cried for the big brother she may never see again, the anger she felt towards his decision, the friendship and sibling love she may never experience again, the pain she felt for him rejecting her opposition. For the family, she called her own that was falling apart.

"You know I hate it when you cry. It makes me want to cry too"

She sniffled in reply. He still smelt like lavender. She chuckled dryly to herself.

"We've never been apart for more than 6 months before!" Trypheana finally croaked

He laughed sadly. " Your 26 Tryph. I'm just 2 years older. We can handle ourselves."

"I don't care, I just don't want you to leave." she huffed

" You know, I'm only leaving because I want to be remembered by the world. Your a bestselling author, our little brother is a worldwide lecturer and I'm nothing"

"So what you're not famous! You're the best brother ever. That's something to be remembered for."

He chuckled. His laugh was so rich and heartwarming. It made Trypheana cling on to him even more.

Alex whispered softly in her ear, "I'll miss you"

"I don't want to say goodbye," She whispered back

He smiled, she didn't need to see his face to know. Trypheana opened her mouth to say something, anything that would be memorable for him.

He did it for her. He said something so meaningful, any soul who heard it could never forget it:

"It's not a goodbye, more like a see you later. We have been together through thick and thin. No need to stop now. Remember this, It's never the end."

They looked up and felt cold chills dropping on them. Tiny snowflakes floated gracefully to the ground, melting on their skin. She couldn't care less about snow at that moment

He pulled away, his eyes sad and weary, almost pulling her back into tears. He kissed her forehead, probably too sad to say goodbye.

She watched as he walked away, and still watched as he disappeared behind a corner and the snow fell heavily on her.

2 years later, he was gone.

That was the last time she ever saw him, his beautiful smile, face, humour, freckles, his bright green smiling eyes.

The last time she believed in the law, government and army who sent him to his death, with full knowledge of their crime.

The last time she believed in not only her family and friends but people at large and worse, in herself.