“How about this one Spencer?”

The sun illuminated the young girl, shining on her golden brown eyes, her long brown hair swayed with her dress as she turned to the boy revealing a bright yellow marigold. She held it close to him so that he could examine her new found treasure. Spencer looked up at the girl dumbfounded in awe,

“You’re beautiful Calliope” the boy whispered.

“What was that?” Calliope asked looking up at Spencer to see him blush, the sun made his hazel eyes glisten and his dark shaggy hair shine. Calliope returned her attention to the assortment of flowers in the garden they were standing in.

“Oh- I uh- said they’re beautiful, Calli” he quickly replied, still blushing and looking away in fear of her stare, she giggled with a soft like chuckle at the nickname he gave her. “Your mom will love it!” He continued to smile and smell the relaxing scent of the flowers as he gently picked them and placed them in a light brown wicker basket.

Calliope giggled tenderly and smiled to herself while picking through the flowers. About an hour later, still rummaging through the flowers, Calliope hummed a tune to a song and naturally Spencer hummed with her while they collected the most pristine flowers for their mom’s. The air around them was therapeutic, it was very serene. A moment of their lives that, if it were possible, they would turn it into a candle and smell its delicate aroma forever.

Calliope and Spencer’s moms are very close friends, who especially appreciate spending mother’s day together. The kids are a year apart in age, but they grew up together making them inevitable best friends. Calliope had an inclination for Spencer, they were very young but everyone could see how much they cared about each other and how much they meant to each other, Spencer loved Calliope.

The two kids enjoyed playing together in the garden behind Calliope’s old house when they were young, it was well kept and secluded, there wasn’t another neighbor for miles it was just peaceful quiet land. The house stood two stories tall, made of wood, to some it was creepy and scary, but to Calliope Fernweh it was home. The large garden behind the house was so full of life containing a colossal collection of strange flowers and foods. It was a sight for sore eyes, especially while Calliope stood flawlessly in front of her best friend Spencer Grey, her toothy grin melted his young heart. 

Spencer, out of a surge of confidence, grabbed Calliope’s smaller hand and spoke shyly unsure if she was comfortable with the random act, “I’ll race you to the house!”

Calliope smiled back confidently, keeping his hazel eyed gaze, still holding Spencer’s hand and lightly squeezing tighter for reassurance, “You’re on!” hesitantly letting go of each other's hands, the two ran to the house together making it the last time they would run to that house for a long time. 

The Fernweh’s deemed the house too dangerous for children so they decided to move to a much safer home, a home in the same neighborhood as their family friends the Grey’s. The two family’s adored Calliope and Spencer’s friendship and would’ve been torn if they had to take it from them, therefore making their decision to move, an easier one. 

“Spencer Grey!” Calliope, now a teenager, yelled playfully while getting out of a small car “Don’t tell me you don’t recognize this place!?” The two stood next to each other looking up at the vacant rustic house from the driveway, Spencer looked clueless. 

“Calli we’re in the middle of nowhere looking at a run down, broken, old house with itchy tall grass covering everything. Can you give me any clues?”

Calliope confidently grabbed the much taller boy's hand and grinned while looking up into his confused eyes, “I’ll race you to the house!” and before giving Spencer the chance to realize where he was, he found himself running with his best friend trying to catch his breath before finally remembering where he was.

When they came to a stop he gasped, “This is where we grew up!” His eyes gleamed in the heartwarming moment.

He is so cute Calliope thought to herself, He looks like a little kid after running into a candy store, it’s so adorable. “Now you remember,” she said sarcastically “I wanted to relive some of my favorite memories with you, especially before we both leave for college.” the mood turned somber.

Spencer stared at her, without making a sound, his eyes spoke to her with love.

Calliope snickered, “What are you looking at?” 

Spencer was always unable to express how perfect she was to him. How her blemishes made her face a perfect rosey color, how her scattered spots of acne reminded him of strawberries. 

“Pure beauty” he said confidently.

Calliope looked up at him, smiled, and kissed him on the cheek.

“So, do you want to go to the garden first?” Spencer looked back down at her and asked.

 “Oh my God,” she takes a deep breath “Do you think the garden is still there!?”

“We better find out.” Without hesitating he ran towards the back of the house, still holding Calliope’s hand, taking her with him as they explored their old memories.

Calliope had her hand on her chest as she was catching her breath, she finally looked up to catch a glimpse of what was before her, “Spence,” she lightly tapped his arm while teary eyed “It’s- it’s so gorgeous, it’s almost exactly how I remember!”

Spencer was shocked at the sight of the garden, the colors were so lively even after all those years. There were bright new and old flowers that stood overgrown, tall, and proud showing memories of the past, leaving the two breathless. It didn’t feel real.

Spencer hugged and held her from behind kissing her on the cheek. He whispered in her ear, “It’s almost as perfect as you,” 

Calliope laughed light heartedly wiping away the tears “That was so corny!”

He smiled innocently “It was good though right?” He chuckled, still holding her resting his chin on her shoulder.

“Yes,” Calliope laughed. “It was great” she turned her head and kissed him on the cheek making him blush.  

Even though they’ve been together for so many years they still managed to make each other flustered, “H-here,” Spencer stuttered, he reached down picking an orange lily, placing it in her hair. He paused for a moment to take it all in, the most perfect girl to him, standing in a garden of memories “You’re beautiful Calliope”.

“You’re giving me deja vu right now” She looked into his eyes and flashed him a sweet smile, “I want to capture this moment, smile!” 

She pulled a light pink polaroid camera out of her purse and posed by kissing him on the cheek while he smiled, leaving the old house in the background of their sweet picture. After the camera clicked and the light flashed she received her picture from the camera reaching into her purse again retrieving a black marker. She wrote “West Virginia, May 1985. Memories!” on the back of the picture, she shook it for a while, waiting for the image to develop. It’s perfect!

“Do you think it’s safe to go into the house?” she questioned,

“I don’t see why not, I just wish we bought a flashlight, it’s getting pretty late.”

“You’re right…” she replied with a devious grin “That’s why I brought candles!”

“Calliope Fernweh, you adorable genius!” 

He kissed her forehead out of excitement while Calliope pulled a small white unscented candle and a boxy bronze metal lighter out of her purse to show him, quickly putting them back for later use. After enjoying the peaceful view, the two agreed to see the inside of the house, questioning if it would still match their memories. Spencer and Calliope walked to the porch on the back of the house and peered through the thick dark grey dust infested window to see what was inside.

“Do you see anything?” Spencer asked, attempting to look over her shoulder.

Her hands made the shape of a ‘c’ by both of her eyes as she lightly pressed them against the window taking a look at what was inside,

“It’s completely empty, I can only see the staircase... and a lot of dust… and cobwebs” She shivered at the thought.

Spencer grabbed the rusty door handle and turned while slowly creeping it forward, afraid of a jump scare. It wasn’t locked. They poked their heads through the doorway checking left and right,

“Coast is clear!” Spencer walks in, watching his step to avoid any loose floor boards. They walked together scoping out their surroundings, the floorboards creaking as they smelled the moldy air letting in any loose particles in the air enter their noses leaving them with the feeling of needing to sneeze.

“It’s exactly how we left it, besides the smell and the fluffy dust. I really miss this place” Calliope said while examining what used to be the living room.

“It’s so empty, maybe-” Spencer hesitated while Calliope gave him a concerned, yet curious look, he continued after taking a deep breath, “Maybe we could fix it and make it a home again, s-some day?”

Calliope gave him a big smile while focusing all of her attention on him and his words “Spence, would you want to do that with me!? We could rebuild this place together!” She grew excited and grabbed his hand at the idea.

“I was trying to ask you, but I guess you beat me to it,” he chuckled. “I would love to, my wish will finally come true!” His body relaxed while bringing Calliope into a hug. Calliope had no clue what “wish” he was talking about but she decided not to question it. Spencer gave her a tender kiss on her lips releasing her from their hug, after his worries were cleared away from her idea. 

“It’s starting to get hard to see in here. Can you light that candle?” Spencer asked,

“Yeah it’s getting pretty dark, we should check out the rest of the place and get going” Calliope lit the small white candle, placed the dented cold lighter back in her purse, and continued creaking around.

They stood next to the stairs catching a glimpse of the odd texture on the floor, the flooring was covered in a cluster of scratches in one spot, it was very out of place.

  “Do you remember what that’s from Spence?” Calliope asked while she pointed.

“How could I forget? On my tenth birthday I knocked over your mom’s favorite vase and you helped me from getting in trouble” He smiled.

After talking about their memories in each room of the first floor Calliope asks, “Do you think it’s safe to look upstairs? I want to see my old room”. She looked up the darkened staircase, waiting for an answer.

“I think so, but let's be cautious when we get up there, I can’t have you falling through the floor” He responded, also looking upwards. “Leave your stuff down here, just in case”

Calliope followed his instructions and placed her things by the base of the stairs. The nervous teens grabbed each other’s hands, their senses felt sharpened, taking each step slower than the last. They safely reached the top, letting the memories come back to them, carefully walking into Calliope’s old room staring out the bay window. The room wasn’t too big nor too small, it was perfect. The setting sun shone directly into the room through the large window that was directly above the garden in the backyard, some would say it’s the best view in the house.

“Oh my gosh Spence do you remember when-” Spencer lifted his hand while looking down trying to focus on something, asking Calliope without talking, to stop speaking. Which she did. Calliope tried hard to figure out what he was waiting for, but to no effort, she was left clueless.

She spoke softly so as to not distract him, “Spence, what's wrong?”   

“Calli, do you smell that?” Spencer asked with worry, Calliope stood very still and took a deep breath through her nose. It smells off, like… smoke? 

Just as fast as they smelled the air, a huge cloud of black smoke reached its way up the stairs, making its odor even more intense. The couple stood close to each other while thinking of any idea that could explain what was happening, tears started forming in Calliope’s eyes as she slowly realized her mistake.

“Calli, I need you to focus!” Spencer grabbed her shoulders to get her to look directly at him, “What did you do with the candle?” He said with a stern, but also calm, voice.

Calliope begins to sweat as the tears fall down her face, “Spence- I- I left it d-downstairs” She trailed off as she began to sob, “Spencer I’m so sorry, I swear, I thought I blew it out!” she cried.

“Calliope look at me, this was an accident okay? We can get out of this,” He looked around the room hoping for an answer, but while he did a quick flash of orange, yellow, and red made its way up the stairs leaving them trapped. Spencer quickly slammed the door shut while returning back to Calliope. Their fears were coming true.

“Okay- sh*t uhm, alright let’s think. We need to get out of here but-” He worriedly looked around, eventually focusing his attention to the large window. In other circumstances the scenery would’ve been so magical, if only everything out there knew what was happening in the house. His eyes turned even sadder than they were.               

 Spencer held back the tears in his eyes, trying to be strong while saying his next few words, “Calliope I love you. I love you so much and I’m going to need you to trust me okay?”

“Spencer I love you too-” and without letting her finish her sentence he went behind her and wrapped his arms tightly around her, trapping her, making it nearly impossible to escape from his grasp. The back of her head was touching his chest, she struggled to break free from his tight hold,

“Spencer what are you doing!? Stop, please! There has to be another way, just stop!” Calliope squirmed in his embrace, her body was tense with fear, afraid she knew what he was thinking.

Spencer let the tears that were forming in his eyes fall, he smiled while saying his last five words, “I love you so much!” And with that Calliope’s fear came true, Spencer forcefully slammed against the window behind them, breaking the glass and falling down out of the two story house.

Spencer held Calliope as close as possible making sure she stayed on top of him, she screamed loud then her voice went silent, landing in the garden that was once so far below them. On impact, his arms immediately dropped letting her go as they both stayed there. Calliope slowly rolled out of his arms, laying in the garden.

Calliope slowly opened her tear filled eyes that were clenched shut, watching as the house burned to the ground. She sat up making her shaky hands cup Spencer’s face beginning to cry even harder, “Spencer?” She whispered. She kneeled close to him, “Spencer! Spencer wake up! Please, please wake up!” She hit his chest as she yelled. Calliope wiped the right side of her face with the back of her hand noticing blood after she looked down at her hand, the glass must’ve cut her face as they fell.

He looked so peaceful, surrounded by thistles, marigolds, and a number of colorful flowers circling the two of them, like when they were kids. Other than a few cuts on his face, you would think this was a set up for a photoshoot. All the young girl could do at that moment was cry.

Calliopes' aged hand wiped the tear off the right side of her face, grazing over the scar she got from the incident when she was 17, and placed a single marigold in an overgrown dull garden. 

“It’s been 5 years, I still can’t forgive myself for what I did. I’m so sorry”. Calliope said with a breathy whisper.

 She sat in the exact spot where Spencer took his last breath, her mind filled with so many memories they had together but only one stook out. Spencer’s tenth birthday. 

Calliope began to cry hard. her heart was full of regret and sadness, “I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with you and then I realized, you spent the rest of your life… with me” she took a deep shaky breath, taking a long hard sip of a liquid in a brown glass bottle, sighed, and chuckled, “It’s funny because everything we’ve been through together started and ended here, in our garden”.