“Things do perish, but memories will last you a lifetime. Those things include pictures you know?” She looked at me with an irritated face. I was holding a camera, adjusting it to capture the perfect angle for the perfect picture of the perfect girl. The sky was dyed red-orange and the ocean shined vibrantly as the sun rested upon it. She fit naturally with the background. Her long black hair shimmered with the sun while her eyes radiated the emotions of true bliss. All while maintaining her usual tranquil state; shy of revealing how she truly feels.
“Smile” I smile in hopes of a reflection. She sighs.
“It can’t be helped” She moves both corners of her lips slightly towards each side producing a gentle smile. That was the first and last picture I ever took of her.
Weeks past by. Eventually those weeks turned into months. It had been 3 long months since I last saw her; 3 long strenuous months since the day I took that photo. It was then I decided to wait at the spot where I took the photo; desperately hoping we’d meet again. After a few days waiting at that spot, depressed and nostalgic, a person came by. She knew of Alice, the girl in the photo. I was told that she had a weak heart and that she had several heart attacks and that...the next heart attack would be her last. She died in her sleep so she felt no pain. I felt like I lost everything. All those months waiting and thinking all for naught. I started to think. What if, what if the look on her eyes was not of bliss and tranquility but the look of hope all lost? What if her smile was not full of meaning but instead hollow; void of feeling? No, maybe that smile wasn’t hollow. Maybe it was a smile accepting her fate, content with no shred of regrets. Maybe that’s why she didn't tell me anything about her illness but instead to remind me that things do perish, but memories will last you a lifetime.