The Spring Anthology ✔

Dust in the Wind

Written by @Aly_Drake

The warm summer sun baked my skin to a golden brown as I reclined lazily on the hood of my boyfriend's car while he grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler. The rattling of ice cubes as he searched for water stopped and I knew what was about to happen before the icy liquid hit my bare stomach. Ryden's laughter echoed in the open area around us as I squealed and jumped away.

"Ry, you are such a jerk," I said as I shook out the hem of my wet crop top and kicked off my sandals.

"And here I was about to tell you how much I love you," he said while his arms wound around my waist and was met with no resistance as he pulled me in for a hug.

"I'm going to miss you." Ryden rolled his eyes and kissed my forehead quickly. We were both going our separate ways for college in a few days. I would be staying in town to go to the community college while he went to one of the best universities in the country.

"It's only eight hours away Lex, I'll visit all the time and you can come up whenever you want." I looked at the long and dying grass around us while I stepped out of his embrace. We had the same discussion multiple times over the last two months, I would never ask him to give up his future for me but I wanted to know my place in it.

"I can't just drive up there when I feel like it and you can't just come down here all the time, it isn't realistic."

"So what Alexis? We're going to make this work and you know it."

"What if we can't?" I linked my hands behind my head and looked up at the clear blue sky. My eyes were burning from the formation of the tears I refused to shed. Ryden's irritated sigh tickled my neck as he placed his chin on my shoulder and ran his hands along my arms. His fingers pulled my hands apart and I dropped my arms to lean against him.

"You're such a pessimist."

"I know," I whispered as I turned around and hugged him again. He smelled like cinnamon, a mixture of his cologne and his toothpaste, a scent that gave me comfort mainly because it was connected to him.

"Come with me," he said suddenly as if it were the best idea he had ever had. I leaned back to look at him only to discover he hadn't gone insane.

"I've already paid for my seat here; I can't just pick up and leave."

"Well then what's your solution?" I reached up to push away the chocolate hair that had fallen into his eyes and brushed my fingers down the side of his face.

"I don't have one." Ryden muttered something softly as I stepped away and began to pace around in the grass.

We grew quiet as we sat down on the hood of his car and stared out at the endless expanse of grass. He had been my boyfriend for two and a half years and my friend for long before that, losing him wasn't an option. Ryden was the air I breathed and the first person I thought of when I woke up. He was everything to me but this had been our biggest issue for awhile. We were two teenagers trying to figure out what to do with our lives and eventually the final decision would be made and there would be no escape from it.

As the sun began to set and the air grew colder I moved closer to Ryden. His arm wrapped around me, an action that was as old as our friendship, as I kissed his cheek and pressed myself into his side. I felt his fingers begin to comb through the ends of my hair as he hummed a song I knew but couldn't remember. I looked at the amazing man beside me and reached a conclusion that I was satisfied with.

"After the first semester I can transfer over to the college there," I said as I reached across his lap to lace my fingers with those of his free hand.

"You're serious?" he asked as the fingers in my hair stilled and the green eyes looked down at me.

I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

"I love you," he said before we kissed. His kisses took my breath away and made me feel loved. Ryden was my better half, the one person I didn't think I could live without.

It has been ten years, three months, and five days since I had seen Ryden last. On his way to university he had been involved in a major car accident and died quickly. My only solace was that he felt no pain when he died. Since the day I lost him I have remained single, incapable of loving anyone but him.

Ashley Ryden Woodrow was now nine and the spitting image of her father if he had been a woman. She had the same piercing green eyes and chocolate hair that resisted being tamed at all costs. My daughter had become the love of my life after the death of her father though I was unaware of her existence for another month or so after his death. The tiny baby growing inside of me had brought me back from the depths of depression and breathed life into me, life I had been missing for far too long.

I paced across my bedroom and opened my window to look out at the field that Ryden and I had once sat in as we discussed our future. The summer air blew through my hair as it had done so long ago and I was reminded of his laugh and the smile that always warmed my heart. A set of feet stomped across the floor and a small hand slipped in mine without a word. Ashley and I gazed out at the fields and I knew Ryden would be looking down on our daughter with love and pride.

Ryden's love was like dust in the wind, it was always there whether you were aware of it or not. His love swirled around you and surrounded you at all times. Ryden's love was something you could not live without because it would always exist. Most importantly he was dust in the wind, always there and not going anywhere anytime soon.