text: Elliot didn't waste a second, he ran towards his little sister. There was no way he was going to let her go again. He embraced the girl in a bear hug and she mumbled something about not being able to breathe. After a while he released his hug and held her by the shoulders at arms length. "I've missed you so much."
  
  She gave a faint upturn of her lips, "I've missed you, too. Where have you been?"
  
  "What do you mean?"
  
  "You promised me when I was a little girl that you would always be there for me but, it's been six years. You haven't visited my grave in six years. You were always my only visitor and now there's nobody. I'm so lonely, Elliot."
  
  The man couldn't believe it. Had it really been six years since he visited his sister? Thinking back, he supposed it had been close to that long. How could he have neglected his sister like that? A wave of guilt washed over him.
  
  Then she spoke again, "it's okay, I forgive you. Without you, I wouldn't have made it this far. Thank you for protecting me all those years."
  
  It was true, he had always been Jessie's protector. He would've jumped in front of a sword aimed her way. Their father was a horrible, sadistic man who used Elliot as his own personal play thing. As a child, Elliot was beaten within an inch of his life regularly, and was constantly covered in new scars and bruises. Sometimes, the man showed love for his son, but it was in purely a physical and forceful manner.
  
  As for Jessie, he never laid a hand on her. He never had a chance. Elliot would have protected her to his dying breath. He almost did, at times. The boy took hundreds of beatings to save his sister and would often tell her to run to the woods outside the house. He didn't want her to have to see what their father did to him. Their father always wanted Jessie. He wanted to take from her what he had taken from his son years before. He wanted her untainted garden, but Elliot ensured she kept her innocence. He protected her for years, successfully able to sacrifice himself at every turn. However, not even her older brother could protect Jessie from Typhoid fever. She died young, but she died innocent; as pure as the snow she was buried in.
  
  The dead girl looked healthier than she had ever been. He loved his sister; she had once been the only joy in his life. The thought crossed Elliot's mind that perhaps he could just stay here with Jessie rather than continue on and out of the forest. He could stay here forever with Jessie and never have to make her lonely again. But then again, she's just a ghost. Jessie, the real Jessie, is dead and gone.
  
  > leave her
  Elliot sighed. She was already gone, it would only hurt him to stay with her ghost any longer. "I'm sorry, Jessie. I love you more than anything but for now...I have something I need to do."
  
  She looked horrified, "you're-you're not going to leave me again, are you? Please, please, please, stay with me. Only for a little while, just a little bit!" She was hysterical.
  
  "I'm so sorry," by this time, he was shedding tears. Seeing himself cause his little sister such pain broke his heart, but he knew, deep down, that this was the only thing he could do. This vision wasn't real. He dejectedly turned his back on her and took his first step. It wasn't until he felt something underfoot that he realized he had stepped on a daisy.
  
  Daisies. If only it was anything but daisies. They were always Jessie's favorites and Elliot could remember the mountains of daisies he mourned over on her grave. He remembered burying her with eleven daisies, one for every year she brought him joy. He knew he still had to leave her, but it wouldn't hurt to give her one thing as a parting gift.
  
  The man found another small patch of daisies five steps away and plucked a handful of them. Turning around, Jessie was found frozen to the spot with a waterfall of salty tears pouring from her eyes. He walked up to her, daisies in hand and placed the bouquet at her feet. Giving her one final goodbye, he walked away for the last time, knowing he'd see her again, perhaps in this very forest. But to comfort himself, he decided her grave would be the second thing he did when he got to Gregory Village, where Rosy and his childhood home were.
  
  He walked and walked and walked and walked and walked. He only stopped to let nature take its course and to eat or drink. Elliot knew that if he was quick, the forest, and his guilt, would be behind him by nightfall. When dusk was just beginning to arrive, he exited the forest for the first time in almost three days. The man reveled in the fact that he made it just ahead of schedule. His only hope was that he actually made it to Gregory Village and not some nearby township.
  
  After walking a little bit beside the nearby huts and small homes, he began to recognize it as truly Gregory Village. He whooped in excitement and broke into a run, hoping to make it to Aunt Rosy's hut before complete darkness hit.
  
  > Path of greif and guilt epilogue
  Elliot ran through the dark village, knowing exactly where he was headed without the help of a compass. He was determined to find Aunt Rosy and say goodbye to her before she left. He found the hut in no time. The man rushed through the door and yelled, "hello it's Elliot," so they would be aware of his presence. Rosy's bed was at the far end of the one room hut and the man quickly rushed to her side.
  
  Uncle Mark was sitting on her left, holding her hand as she slept and Elliot plopped himself down on her right so as not to interfere with him.
  
  "I'm glad you made it."
  
  "So am I. How's she been?"
  
  "She doesn't have more than a few hours left. I want her to stay longer but...she's in so much pain. Being alive is just suffering for her. I-I-I suppose the faster she goes, the better." He started to chuckle despite the look of immense pain in his eyes. "I bet she has to go soon so that she can see little Jessie. She always loved that girl."
  
  Elliot chose not to tell Mark that he had seen Jessie that morning and broken her dead heart.
  
  After a long silence, Mark spoke again, "Elliot, I don't want her to die. Why can't I die instead? I'm older, I've done horrible things in my life and she, she's always been so kind to everyone. She doesn't deserve this. She deserves to live forever."
  
  The younger man thought a moment. "Maybe...He," Elliot pointed up, "He takes the good ones first because they don't deserve to have to go through this. Maybe it's just us bad people who have to take on this grief."
  
  The two men sat in silence, awaiting Rosy to wake up so they could say goodbye. I wish I could say she woke up and everyone got to tell each other how much they love each other. I wish I could say that, but Rosy never woke up. She died in her sleep, during a dream about daisies. They say only the good die young, but maybe that's because only the bad deserve to feel grief.