A Tragedy in Earthly Paradise

“Hey Emelia, I don’t understand why you couldn’t ask Spencer to climb this stupid hill with you,” The dark-haired girl said with a huff as she lengthened her strides up the grassy hill. “You know since he’s your boyfriend and all that.” She tucked a strand of her messy, straight hair behind her ear as she turned to look at the girl named Emelia who was a few strides behind her. She looked at her with playful dismay as the frigid morning air wafted past them causing both to shiver slightly.

“He would never let me wake him up right before the crack of dawn, just to see the sunrise,” Emelia laughed as she caught up to her companion. “Besides, you’re my best friend Isabelle so why wouldn’t I drag you up here first.” Both of the girls were now side by side; their shoes damp from the morning dew that settled on the blades of grass they had stepped through. 

Isabelle let out a short, bitter laugh, “As your best friend this is the worst thing you could ever do to me but I guess I appreciate the sentiment.” She missed the warmth of her bed, starting to regret her decision of entertaining Emelia’s spontaneity. Though the regret was short-lived when Emelia reached out to hold her arm and laugh in response. A peaceful silence enveloped the two girls as they continued their hike up the ridiculously green, lush hill. 

As Emelia and Isabelle walked arm in arm, the sky started to lighten; the lushness of the earthly paradise became more prominent as the sky’s blue warmth came into play. The beauty in front of Isabelle’s mortal eyes evoked a cloud of reminiscence to pass through her mind. Isabelle thought about their friendship. Even as a child, she had always been this way with Emelia. She had walked to the beat of her own drum while Isabelle had blindly, happily followed. To her, Emelia was one of the greatest joys in her life. She was forever loyal and indebted to Emelia ever since they played tea party in the sandbox at the local daycare. Emelia saved her from loneliness.

In Isabelle’s eyes, Emelia was her idol. Her blonde locks framed her face beautifully and her brown eyes twinkled with mischief constantly. She held herself up with unbreakable confidence and never shrank back in fear. Though, it was the confidence that Isabelle liked the most because it was a trait she never had. If she compared herself to Emelia, Isabelle was the complete opposite. Her jet black hair always covered her face in some way and her eyes held nothing but hesitance. Isabelle rarely ever held herself with boisterous confidence unless she was around Emelia. To Isabelle, her best friend was like a powerful driving wind that knocked her off her feet (in a good way). Emelia had always grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her comfort zone. 

Even now at the ripe age of eighteen, Isabelle would have never climbed up a hill right before dawn in cool weather just to see the sun. This was all because of Emelia and deep inside, even while missing the comfort of her bedroom, she was deeply grateful to have been able to experience this with her. With that in her mind, she pulled on Emelia’s arm, “Can we hurry up or do you want to miss it?” Isabelle said as she looked at her. 

Emelia looked at her with a bright smile, “Yes, we can hurry up because it would be a shame if I dragged you out here just to miss it.” She unhooked her arm from Isabelle, and sped up until she stood in front of her, “Besides, I don’t want to hear you complain about it later.” With her golden giggle, Emelia grabbed Isabelle’s hand. 

“I think we should run up the hill now.” She said while she tugged her friend’s hand in hopes of further convincing her to break into a sprint. Isabelle rolled her eyes while laughing as their pace quickened rapidly. When they broke into a full sprint, Emelia and Isabelle’s hands were grasped tightly together. Their laughter rolled off the hill in waves as they reached the top.

The top of the hill exceeded mortal expectations of beauty. The cerulean blue sky seemed to touch it; this allowed visitors to think they could reach out and touch the heavens. The vibrant green grass was littered with flowers of many variations. The pink and blue ones stood taller than the yellows and purples, only to be swayed by the wind. The breeze was crisp and fresh, the air quality seemed cleaner than at the bottom of the hill. From a distance, the top semicircle of the sun could be seen serenely rising to meet the clouds. This made the two girls smile brightly as they feasted their eyes on eternal beauty mortalized. 

Emelia quickly released Isabelle’s hand, running toward the slowly rising sun. She giggled as she picked a flower from the grass, twirling it between her fingertips. Turning around to face her companion she said, “Issy, look at how beautiful this place is!” Her smile reached her ears as she put the flower in her hair. Emelia beckoned Isabelle over as she placed her hand to shield her eyes from the rising sun. In Isabelle’s mind, all of her actions seemed to go in slow motion. Emelia looked like an angel at that very moment, her beauty complimenting their surroundings. It was not the first time her beauty appalled Isabelle, but this time it felt different. A tsunami of various emotions swirled in her heart as she watched her best friend. Of those emotions in her heart, one prominent one stood out; it was pure, unadulterated love. Isabelle was deeply, irrevocably in love with her best friend. Her best friend with a boyfriend who shared the same love for Emelia’s smile as she did. As swift as her realization of love was, reality crashed onto her harder than ever. Emelia would never feel the same way about her. She had Spencer and they were happy together. Isabelle saw the way she looked at him; it was exactly the same way she looked at Emelia. 

A sad smile crept up Isabelle’s face as she memorized every single detail about the girl in front of her. “It is very beautiful, Em.” She said, trying her hardest to mask the overwhelming cave growing in her heart. Her smile shrank as the angel in front of her played with the flowers in the beautiful paradise. The sun had now risen to its true height and shone brightly on Emelia’s golden locks. Emelia looked at Isabelle with her same confident, dazzling smile. She returned it and said, “I love you, Emelia.” 

Emelia’s smile grew even bigger, “I love you too.” She giggled at Isabelle as she ran her fingertips over the petals on the flower laid delicately in her palm. The image was clearly contradictory to the unintentionally cruel words Emelia said next, “You are my best friend after all.” The sentence stabbed Isabelle in the heart a million times, reminding her of her place. In Emelia’s eyes, Isabelle would forever be just her best friend. She could never be more or less than that. It was quite a tragedy; it took Isabelle approximately ten seconds to realize that the love of her life would never love her back as they stood on a hill made of eternal beauty.