Duo hummed quietly as he flipped through channels on his TV. He absently checked his watch and noted the time. Six thirty, Hilde would be there any minute.
At that very moment, there was a knock on his door and Duo jumped up to open it.
Hilde was standing on the other side, waiting patiently for him to open the door.
"Hey babe," Duo greeted her warmly. "Ready to go?"
"Hm? Oh…yeah…" Hilde greeted him back with a quick kiss on the cheek and let herself in. "There’s just one thing," She said.
"Yeah?" Duo asked suspiciously. "What is it?" He looked his girlfriend over from head to toe. She hung her head low and fixed her eyes on her feet. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her, and she was playing with something in her hands.
"Duo," She began, Hilde was acting unusually nervous.
Duo took a step closer to her and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.
"What is it babe? Have a bad day?"
She shook her head silently.
"Cancel the reservations," She said as she shrugged his arms off of her.
"Hun? Why? I thought you loved this restaurant. Would you rather stay in? I know this great Chinese place that does deliveries if…"
"No," She cut him off.
"Okay…you got a better suggestion then?"
"No Duo, I’m leaving,"
"Leaving where? You goin’ home? You don’t look sick to me."
"I’m not sick Duo," She sighed.
"Then what is it?" He could see now that she was crying. "Hilde? What’s the matter baby?" He tried to move in to hug her but Hilde pulled away.
"Please don’t Duo," She whined, "You’re just making it harder." She looked up and stared him straight in the eye.
Duo was at a loss for words. Something was bothering his Hilde. He wondered what it could be. Of course, he had a feeling of dread creeping up from the pit of his stomach, but he tried to dismiss it as indigestion or something.
"I-I’m leaving you Duo."
"W-what?" Duo felt as if someone had just staked him through the heart. He tried to laugh as if it was a joke, but tears were beginning to blur his vision.
"I’m leaving you." Hilde repeated.
"Y-you’re breaking up with me?" Duo gasped.
Hilde nodded sadly. "I’m sorry," She whispered.
"But-but why?" Duo stuttered. Hilde started to leave but Duo grabbed her shoulders to stop her. He brought her tear-stained face up so he could look into her eyes. She wasn’t joking. And she obviously felt bad about it, so why was she leaving him? Just like that?
"I-I can’t…." She murmured. She tried to pull away again.
"Yes you can, Hilde," Duo said sternly. "What did I do?" His voice cracked. He couldn’t believe that the love of his life was leaving him.
"T-there’s…there’s someone else."
Duo’s grip loosened, he could feel his knees getting weak. "What?"
"I’m, really sorry," Hilde said desperately. "I really hate to do this to you Duo. You’re one of the nicest, sweetest guys I’ve ever met, but…"
"BUT WHAT?" Duo cried angrily. Hilde took a step back from him.
"We just weren’t meant to be."
Duo flopped down onto his couch and ran his fingers through his unruly bangs in shock. Then, to Hilde’s surprise, he started to chuckle. "Weren’t meant to be…" He laughed, "We just weren’t meant to be…" He said it with such bitterness that was extremely unusual for Duo. Oh my gosh, Hilde thought, He’s going to crack. He really loved me…
"Duo," Hilde sighed and moved to comfort him this time. "Can’t you see that we don’t belong together?"
"Get out," Duo said coldly.
"But Duo…"
"GO!"
Hilde nodded sadly and got up to leave. "I’m really, really sorry," She said again as she let herself out the door and walked out of Duo’s life.
The young girl carefully examined her creation with a critical eye. She had to make sure that it would carry her across the waves to where people were waiting for her. She was glad her mother was able to teach her how to survive before she died. If it hadn’t been for her, the girl would have died the day her mother did.
Mom, She thought sadly. "I’ll miss you always." She decided to take one last walk around the tiny island before she left the place forever. She walked carefully along the shoreline, her feet ankle-deep in the water, towards where her mother’s shallow grave lay. As she approached the spot where the grave rested, she saw the clumsy wooden cross, made out of sticks and driftwood and tied together with thick vines protruding from the ground. On the cross was written, ‘Gina, my mommy’, in sloppy, childish letters. A nine-year-old girl, still grieving over the loss of her mother nearly nine years ago had erected the monument.
She could still remember clearly her mother’s dying words.
"Don’t you dare die as well, here, on this island. If you do, I will never forgive you. You will get of this island. You hear me? You will escape and live with real people once again. Promise me you won’t let me down."
"I promise, mommy,"
"Thank you,"
"Goodbye mommy," She whispered, "I won’t let you down." She kissed the cross lightly and stood there for a moment in quiet reflection. Then she turned and headed towards the cave, which had been her home for the last ten years.
She pulled herself up the cliffs and into the small hollow where she had been living and had taken shelter from the rain and winds so many times before. It was covered in drawings and littered with little things that they had recovered from the wreckage after they crashed. She studied the things, wondering what might be of use to her. Finally, she chose her pocketknife, and the black book that was the only thing that reminded her of her mother.
Once, there were things written in that book, but now the pages were cracked, torn, and the ink had run until nothing could be made out. It was of no use to her anymore, it was only there so she would not forget the scent of her mother, or her soft melodious voice, or the way she always looked so strong, even when she was dying.
She clutched the book tightly and let herself cry over it. She had lost her mother and her only link to humanity. She was now a young woman, an outcast, who had been living alone for nine years. She needed her mother now, she wasn’t sure if she could make it on her own.
"Oh mom, I miss you. Why did you have to go?" She cried through her tears. "I hate you for leaving me!" She screamed to no one. She wept again and curled up into a little ball to keep her warm and fell asleep, tears still running down her cheeks.
The next morning, the girl woke and she could still feel the dry tears on her cheeks. The ocean was clam, and the tide was high so it would be easy to launch her crudely constructed raft. She finished packing up her things onto it and busied herself with the last of her preparations. She did anything she could so she would not think of her mother, or how she had died without the proper recognition for the great woman that she had been.
She pushed the raft out into the water and jumped on. Digging her oar in the sandy bottom and pushing herself away from the island she had called home for so many years.
"Goodbye, my island!" She called and she waved. She felt another tear trickle down her face but she wasn’t sure why it was there. Perhaps it was because she was leaving the only place she knew as home, and her mother, forever.
She shook any thoughts from her head and concentrated on paddling for all she was worth; in the direction her mother had once told her land lay. She would not fail her mother; she would escape, and make her mother proud. She had to, or she would never be forgiven…
