Chapter 10
Daniel’s last wish was to watch the sunrise from Smoky Mountain with the whole family.
Mom raised us on her own and was always busy, so I always told Daniel, “When mom has a holiday, we’ll go together”
Every time I said that, Daniel would nod obediently and say, “Sister, I know.”
But the sweet and well–behaved Daniel never got to see his wish come true,
I brought the bracelet mom left for Daniel and, with Leo Davis’s help, climbed Smoky Mountain.
I was in so much pain all over that I could barely move, so Leo Davis carried me, step
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by step, up the mountain.
“Am I heavy?”
I asked him softly, lying on his back.
At this point, I was nothing but a skeleton, so light it felt as if I had no weight.
Leo Davis paused for a moment, and after a long silence, he spoke: “You’re not heavy. If you gain twenty more pounds, I’ll still carry you!”
His voice had a slight quiver.
I pretended not to hear and lightly laughed: “If I gain twenty pounds, won’t I become a big fat woman?”
“A big fat woman is fine. I can afford to feed you whatever weight you have,” the man
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beneath me softly responded.
I didn’t say anything else this time. I just quietly rested on his back, feeling the warmth of his body, which was the last warmth I would feel in this world.
It seemed he was worried I might fall asleep, so he kept talking to me: “Hang on, we’re almost there.”
The mountain path was very dark. I mumbled softly in reply.
Leo Davis let out a quiet sigh of relief.
My eyes began to fill with tears. What if… What if I hadn’t liked Luke Crawford? What would this short life of mine have been like?
Would I like an ordinary woman have had someone who cared for me, someone
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who would ask how I was, someone who would bring me hot water when it was cold, someone who would leave a light on for me at night?
Unfortunately, nothing can be undone.
When we reached the mountain top, the sun hadn’t risen yet. I was wrapped in heavy clothing, tightly held by Leo Davis.
I felt all my strength had left me, my body trembling with cold.
“So cold… Why hasn’t the sun risen yet…”
Daniel, I brought you to see the sunrise, but it’s so dark. Daniel, will you blame me for being too late?
I thought it in a daze.
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Leo Davis rubbed his palms together to warm them, then pressed them against my face for a moment, and placed my hand inside his jacket.
But my whole body felt like ice, and no matter what he did, it seemed impossible to warm me up.
“Almost there, Sylvia, just hold on a little longer, the sun will rise soon.”
He kept speaking to me, trying to maintain the last shred of my consciousness.
Finally, with Leo Davis’s words, a faint light appeared on the horizon, gradually spreading into a pale golden circle that pierced through the dark edges.
I widened my eyes and tried to see everything before me.
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The orange light spilled into my eyes, instantly brightening my dim pupils, filling them with an endless force of renewal and warmth.
A huge sun slowly appeared, its golden light covering the world.
Daniel, look-
No matter how the world changes, only the sun rises the same way every day.
This sunrise is so beautiful-
I could faintly hear Leo Davis’s voice calling me, seeming to cry, but his voice sounded so far away, so far away.
In front of me, Mom and Dad were holding Daniel’s hands, smiling at me and reaching
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out.
Behind them was a whole expanse of
brilliant sunrise-
Mom, Dad, Daniel, I’m coming,
I reached out, and this time, I could finally be with them forever.
