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She closed her eyes It seemed that Josh’s voice entered her head "Darcy, hey, don’t be so hard on Hunter You know, he realized that Mike was being a homicidal jerk He tried"

The voice was so real that her eyes flew open

The day hadn’t changed The sky was still blue, the breeze still soft The coffin still lay in the round

Tears welled in her eyes again She closed thehtly, and prayed Then she rose, kissed the coffin, and et you And like your dad said, you will always be in my heart Always If I live to be a hundred"

At last, she turned away She started for the road where her parents, and Hunter, waited

For a moment, the hate remained She couldn’t even look at Hunter Then she remembered Josh’s words, so real in herShe ed to walk to him and place a hand on his arm "You tried," she said very softly

"Oh, Darcy!" he whispered sickly

"You tried," she repeated "One day…one day, we can talk again"

Aly, she felt better And she knew that Hunter had tried She knew, too, that his leg would heal His heart never would He would live with the night in which Josh and Mike had died all of his life And he would fight the guilt in his soul just as long

Herwith outstretched arms Her father, too She ran to theht that they could do

That night, herpill, since she hadn’t really slept since the accident

And it was the pill, she was convinced the following day, that caused her strange dreams

She was back at the ceray, either It seemed that there was a cast of silver, like a h the old gnarled trees, ancient graves, and newer ones, that composed the cemetery Josh had been buried beneath a beautiful old oak She walked toward it, clad in black, bearing a bouquet of flowers

And yet…

As she neared it, she saw a thin , she came closer And it was Josh

He looked very handsome, dressed in the dark suit, tailored shirt, and crimson tie in which he had been buried His dark hair was tri against the tree, ar as she came

For a moment, she was afraid Only a moment

"Josh?"

"Darcy, poor Darcy," he said softly His rueful smile reminded her of his father’s when he had spoken to her over his son’s coffin "Darcy, you’ve got to know It’s okay Honestly, it’s okay"

"It’s not okay, you’re dead" She frowned, ary with hi to die The day that Mike threatened you…you said that maybe you’d be dead, but he’d be dead as well And he is!"

"I know I’m sorry He was a true jerk, but I didn’t really hate hio, Darcy I just wanted you to know that I’o on"

"I will, Josh, but…I never kne much I’d miss you," she whispered

He touched her hair Except that…he wasn’t real, and of course, it was just a whisper of the breeze

"I’ll always be with you, Darcy When you need ainst his heart

"Oh, Josh!"

He was fading Into the silver color of the day Of course It was a drea-induced dream