Sam stood silently for a moment, drinking in the surroundings of the little wooden glen at the far end of the campus. Surrounded by towering trees, a gentle shower of golden maple leaves continually fell around him. Some trees still had some of their green foliage at the top and north sides. Brilliant oranges and dark reds peeked here and there while the bare branches of a ginkgo tree scratched at the sky. Fluffy white clouds floated above while the late afternoon sun outlined every leaf it touched with a rim of gold. Peace descended to only be stirred by the occasional errant cool breeze of autumn.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets, pulling his jacket closer to him, reveling in the warmth of the sun on his back and the cool breeze in his face. He reluctantly turned around as the slight crunch of leaves underfoot sounded through the trees.
Cecilia was walking toward him, looking quite different than the last time he had seen her. Wearing an ivory lace-covered dress, she carefully picked her way this way and that through the roots and brittle leaves.
"Cecilia?" Sam asked in shock as she reached him. "Are you wearing heels?"
Cecilia walked right up to him, where he noticed that she was now at eye level to him. "No, I'm wearing stilts and you've just shrunk." She gave him a wry look. "Is that any way to greet a girl?"
They hugged, her perfume wafting around him for a moment.
"Much better," Cecilia admitted as they parted. "So," she asked shyly. "What do you think?" She slowly turned around. Her dress swirled out slightly, revealing heeled shoes instead of the usual flats. A light breeze lifted a stray ringlet of hair up and back behind her ear as the sunlight glistened on her lipstick. Her brown eyes sparkled in pride and merriment as she finished turning, clasping her matching handbag.
"A dress, heels, makeup, looks like you even had your hair done! I think you look very grown up," Sam said. "I feel very underdressed! What's the occasion?"
"You visiting, silly!" Cecilia laughed. "I hardly see you anymore, so I wanted to show off a bit. I _have_ changed some while you've been gone. But thank you very much for the compliment." She smiled and took his arm in her's. "Come on, let's walk."
They made their way through the woods, winding this way and that among the trees. They talked about the old days, pointing out where they had had a snowball fight with a dozen other friends. The patch of ground that had been the impromptu volleyball court and the time Sam had spiked the ball so hard that it had knocked the opposing player flat on his back. They looked at the faint outline in the distance that was the university's concert hall. Talk was passed back and forth about the old days, of walking to classes in fog and rain, of snow up to the knees. Of seeing a rainbow over the campus quad and of lightning storms at night ricocheting over the tall stately buildings.
"So what's up with you, Sam?" asked Cecilia as they circled around the grove again. "Anything interesting?"
"Well, yeah," Sam muttered. He took a deep breath. "Remember Karen?"
"Yeah, your girlfriend," Cecilia replied, looking down at the ground to make her way around a protruding root. "Don't tell me you guys have broken up?"
"No..." Sam said slowly. He took another deep breath. "We're engaged." He felt her arm tense up in his. "We've told our folks but you're the first of our friends that know!" He waited expectantly for her response.
Cecilia moved away from him. She looked up at the sky, murmuring, "Wow... you're... getting married."
"Gee, Cecilia, don't sound so enthused about it," ribbed Sam. "Come on, tell me, honestly, what you think!"
"Honestly, I'm happy for you two..." Cecilia said, smiling. Her eyes were dark, however, and the smile never reached them.
"I know you better than that." Sam replied. He took a step closer to her. "If you have anything to say, Cecilia, you know that it won't ruin our friendship. If our relationship is so fragile that a few words can ruin it, it wasn't a very good friendship to begin with."
"Always friends..." Cecilia murmured. She looked down at the ground for a moment, dropping her handbag. "All right then, if you really want to know what I feel..."
Her right arm flashed in a quick movement. Sam could barely see it but he felt the impact as her hand entered his ribcage. His knees started to buckle and he opened his mouth to scream but all that emerged was a harsh croaking.
Cecilia's left hand held his body up as her right hand slowly rotated, ripping through bone and flesh above his heart. "You want to know how I feel, Sam?" she whispered harshly. "Well this is it.... All of the dates, all of the girlfriends, all of the little talks about them. I loved that you were there, talking to _me_ but it was always about them."
"Every time you would break up with them, I would feel such joy mixed with your sorrow. But it wouldn't last. There'd always be someone new, someone... who wasn't me. But I had morals. I'd never poach. I'd sit there and be happy for you, because as long as you were happy, what else mattered? But the whole time, you were ripping my heart out. I'd spend days, weeks with my heart hemorrhaging, dripping a blood that no one else could see. But it would congeal, the pain would be numbed... to start all over again!" Her hand moved, throwing away the bones and tissues that protected the heart. Sam's body tried to sink towards the ground again.
Cecilia tisked at him. "Ah, ah, ah, don't give out on me yet, Sam, my love. You wanted to know how I feel... and now you do." She frowned, sadly. "Pity... you won't be able to go on like I do... like I always do." She reached once more into his chest, closing her hand around his heart. She felt the unsteady rapid beat as Sam's body reacted to his fear and pouted as his eyes started to roll back.
"Oh dear, I'd better make this quick... I did _so_ want to have you watch as I ripped your heart out of your chest. That your last image would be of me, with your heart. But I should hurry. You don't have that much time left." Anger showed in her eyes now as her hand rotated again, slowly tearing the veins and arteries that connected the heart to the body. "This is all _your_ fault, you know. You are so _blind_! Just friends, eh? Well, I've never poached on a taken man, but this was the last straw. Karen is a very nice girl but you are supposed to be _mine_. She's just going to have to find someone else to marry. I'm sure it won't take long."
Sam's breath stopped as she let his body drop to the ground, the force of the fall ripping the last tendons and connective tissues apart, leaving his still-warm heart in her hand.
"I'm sorry, Sam," she said to his cooling body. "I told you I had changed while you were gone. And you were always telling me to stand up for myself..."
She took a bite out of the heart, the dark red blood running down her chin, dripping off to join the other tastefully abstract-looking splatters of red on her dress. She stopped chewing for a moment, savoring the taste. She swallowed slowly.
"Your heart isn't tender, Sam," she told the corpse, critically. "It's a bit tough." She took a few more bites, chewing thoughtfully. "But not too bad."
The heart finished, she picked up her handbag, opening it and removing the handiwipes she always kept on her person. She was practical, after all. She cleaned up her face, fixed her lipstick. She picked up her mess, not wanting to clutter up the grove.
She looked at the corpse and then bent down, placing a kiss on the cheek of the slightly warm body. She looked at him, her head cocked to the side. "I wouldn't give you a real kiss even now, because you wouldn't like it."
She stood up, gazing down at him. "Bye Sam," she said. "Be well. Have a good afterlife." She turned, walking out of the grove of trees, the setting sun covering everything with a slight sheen of red. "I am."
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