Candles and Flowers

It was pitch dark, except for the brief light coming from the occasional car driving by.  An ordinary person would surely have considered it eery.  The burning flames in the red candle-holders were flickering gently, dancing with the soft, warm September breeze.  The old gates were always locked at night, but Julie had gotten used to secretly working her way in through the hedge at the back.  She walked down the long, cobblestone passage-way, keeping her eyes forward.  She did not need to look around, she'd been there so many times in the last three years that she could find her way blindfolded.  Her twin sister's tomb was at the far end to the right.

Julie could smell the strong scent of flowers tickling her nose.  Eyes closed, one would think he was in some garden, where flowers bloomed and radiated sweet scents everywhere.  But the flowers and the lapping, thin tongues of fire on each tomb were just about the only things alive in this place.  Otherwise death lingered in the darkness, in the silence, in the chilly atmosphere which could be felt even though Summer had not yet come to an end.  Julie didn't care, she just couldn't be bothered anymore.  There had been a time when she used to find all this fascinating, but since the day her twin had left her to face the world alone, there were very few things which could still fascinate Julie.  Still, she couldn't help but notice how sharp her senses were in there.  "It's funny how I can see, smell and hear more, when I'm here," she thought to herself as she paid attention to the buzzing of bees in the trees.  However, it was not only the sharpening of her physical senses that Julie noticed.  She had also trained her mind much beyond that, or rather, her sister Jade had trained it for her.

Julie was aware of her keen intuition, her extra-sensory perceptions, the strange deja-vus she had started experiencing from the very first night she had started sleeping alone in their bedroom.  Jade had taught her to recognise and read the signals she sent her.  At first Julie had been confused and overwhelmed by all this.  She refused to share her experiences with anyone, not even her parents who were still sorely grieving Jade's loss.  Julie knew they wouldn't understand. 

Julie was handling it all brilliantly by herself.  It made her feel special, her twin's chosen one.  Whenever she was passing through a difficult moment, she would ask her sister for help... and she'd get it.  During the first year of Jade's passing, Julie had been able to feel her sister's presence very vividly, but as time went by, her sister's visits had become less and less evident.  She had learnt that her sister's connection to the world would weaken with time, however the subtle signals would always remain there.  Jade could never leave Julie alone.  They were too precious for each other, they had done everything together; from the moment of conception till their 20th birthday.  The twins' birthday had been the wretched day when Jade had tragically lost her life...

It had been a sunny morning in March.  They had agreed with their friends and boyfriends that they would meet in the afternoon and stay out till late.  It was a tradition in the girls' family, that the morning would be spent with the parents, so that their mother could cook a special meal for them by request and then they would blow their candles and cut the cake.  Their grandparents would be invited over and then there would be gifts to be opened, kisses and hugs to be exchanged.  Alas, this was not the chain of events which would be reproduced in Julie's diary entry of the 17th March 2008.

"Jade, I'm here."  Julie spoke in the direction of her twin's portrait stuck to the pale white marble.  "Honey, you shouldn't come so late at night," she could feel her sister answering.  "You know you can call me from anywhere and I'll be right by your side."  Julie knew this very well, but a nightly visit to the cemetery once every two weeks had become part of her system.  "It felt like ages since I paid you a visit.. I felt guilty," replied Julie inside her mind.  "And I need you, I really need you.  In times like these, I miss you so much, sis.  I feel the need to tell you what happened, to know your opinion, to see what you would do."  "Darling, there's not a single move that you make alone," Jade whispered in her mind.  "I am there by your side, watching over you.  I watch your every mistake, your every triumph.  I am aware of every tear, your every frown and your every smile.  I am not here to take away your pain or to make your life easier.  But I am here to help you build your strength and to help you come out of your storms with flying colours.  There is no way in which you can grow wiser, unless you taste the bitterness.  Your heart would lose its tenderness if you never shed a tear.  You would not be able to teach your children, the best that there is to be learnt.  That is exactly why I let you get yourself into trouble!" Jade concluded jokingly. 

Silence.

Julie felt warm tears streaming down her cheeks, but they were not tears of sadness.  It was always a bittersweet emotion to feel her sister so close, yet so far away from her.  But she was satisfied.  She already felt stronger.  Somewhat, she always went home filled with a positive energy after such a visit, ready to fight every war and to grab every opportunity tossed her way.

She took out a lighter from her pocket and relit the candle, which had been blown out by a sudden gust of wind a few moments earlier.  She then got up, smiled at her sister's photo for the last time that week, and started walking back to the hole in the hedge.....