I Hope You Can Hear Me

It had been awhile since she had gone to visit him. It was hard to bring herself to do it. Often times she would find herself heading that way and then she'd turn right back around from where she was coming from. This time she forced herself to go. She decided to head up north into Canada first. Today was a special today. Today was his birthday. May sixth was the day he was born and the day Corinne celebrated with him every year no matter what. She had managed to get on a train as tribute to him. This was something he worked on his whole life and meant everything to him.

When she got to the town where he'd be, she walked up to the black gate and she opened it with one hand while the other carried a dozen roses. It was something that had sentimental value. Often times, he'd always tell her she was a beautiful as a rose, just like her mother. Rinne wanted him to be able to have that beauty with him even when she wasn't there.

Today no one else was there. It was just her. Her mood wasn't in the greatest place. It seemed to affect the weather around her as it started to snow and it was the beginning of May. She sat on the marble bench that was near the foot of where he lay.

It was quiet and peaceful up there. She hadn't been here since last November. It was how she had decided to spend her birthday. It was how she spent all her birthdays no matter what. The two of them always made time for each other on their birthdays, that was just how it was. However, now it was more so she had to make time for it.

Rinne remembered they'd always go down to the bakery and they'd purchase a cake and share it together. It was one of the finer things in life back then. They'd sit together and they'd sing and dance to music. He was the person who taught her how to dance in the first place. It was days like these where she wanted to be able to wrap her arms around him again. She wanted to be able to see his face.

There wasn't a day that went by where she didn't miss him. It was hard for her. It didn't even sink in right away. She had become unfrozen and came back to the world. Everything was different. Way more buildings, tall buildings, hard roads, tons of people populating everything, bigger and faster cars, and she went to the only place she could have gone. She went to find home. He wasn't there when she went. It was run down. The house looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. The windows and doors were bordered up and Corinne only sat in the pathway up to the house crying.

He wasn't there, and she knew in that moment that he wasn't anywhere in the world. She remembered the day clearly and it was always burned in the back of her mind. She remembered the way her heart dropped and there was nothing else she could do, but cry.

Looking at his tombstone never grew easier. "Gabriel Giroux, A man dedicated to his life's work. 1850-1910" She could have had at least twenty years with him before he went, but now she didn't have any. Corinne could feel her bottom lip quiver and her lower jaw shake as the tears welled up in her eyes. Every time she saw the tombstone, it only reminded her of how time didn't wait for anyone.

The tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks as she hugged her own body. "I'm sorry if I've disappointed you, father." She said trembling over her words as more tears shed from her face and slowly they froze to her face too. At that point the brunette could feel the anger bubble. If she had no ice powers at all, she would have just died and she wouldn't be stuck here having to live so much of her life without him.

Although her hand shaky, it reached into her pocket and grabbed the pocket watch. Opening it on the one side had the clock and the other was a photo of her and her father when she was about the age of ten. "I wish I had more time with you. I wish you could be here now. It's so hard without you." Her body was shaking as she cried now.

The silence surrounded her again as she sat there and cried. She couldn't ever forget her father. He was on her mind a lot. The memories they shared. He hadn't always been around, due to his work, but he was there when he could be. He'd always crack jokes with her and he'd teach her to read even though women weren't supposed to be able to. He was the one who bought her, her first book and it's only grown to be her favourite. All the stories she read were what made her want to explore the world. In some ways she wished she had never been able to read, because then maybe she would have never gone off and she would have stayed with him.

"And now you're gone, and I can't bring you back." She said quietly as she took deep breaths in. She tried to calm herself down a bit before she spoke again. "I have met so many people. So many good people, father. I wish you could have met them. I think you would have liked them. They are a bit different though, they aren't from our time. Nothing is like how it used to be. Who would have thought the world would have advanced so far? Who would have thought we'd have plenty of wars in between, huh?" Rinne asked.

After several minutes of talking to her father followed by silence, she reached in her bag and pulled out a music player. She had gotten help with figuring out how to get the songs she wanted and she created a playlist of all of their favourite songs. She hit the play button and the music started to sound. She set it down and decided to sit on the ground and hugged her knees to her chest.

"This is for you, happy birthday father. I hope you can hear me."