Gabriel Ch 01 1

Gabriel-

Why must there be heartache? If the purpose of life is to love and be loved, why must people suffer loss, betrayal, suspicions, etc, at the hands of the person they handed their heart to? Is it too much to ask that once in a while we measly humans get to have some semblance of happiness? Maybe, just maybe there is a point to heartbreak. I'd like to think there is, anyway. Perhaps. Although it feels as if you'll die from it when it first happens, doesn't it make the next time you fall in love, or at the very least in like, that much sweeter? Maybe there is no heartbreak, just the absence of love. And after knowing that absence we can fully appreciate and cherish the love we do have and will eventually encounter. The hurt makes the good times that much better. The light becomes brighter instead of just another thing we take for granted. Sweet dreams, my friend. Rest assured that things will be better once the dawn breaks, whenever that may be.

Until the day we meet again,

Rachel

Rachel Ravenswood laid down her pen and cracked her knuckles. In the quiet library, the soft pops were deafening. She came here to think. To let her thoughts flow. At ten o'clock in the morning, one would think that the university library would be overflowing with college students studying until they couldn't see straight. Any other day that would be the case, but not today.

Today

, Rachel thought to herself,

was the last day of finals. Everyone else is out celebrating. And what am I doing? Sitting here. . . Still.

Rachel sat at her usual study station, tucked away in a corner of the stacks that almost no one found unless they already knew where it was.

Spread out on her station were things that Rachel never left her room without: her journal, paper, pens of various colors, and a novel. From a very young age she had learned to appreciate the potential that a blank piece of paper held. Whether it was writing or drawing or anything really, she loved all of the possibilities. Sometimes she would just doodle on a sheet of paper and tuck it between library books with the hope that someone would find it and enjoy it or maybe even get inspired.

Slowly, she began packing her things back into her messenger bag. In went the tools that had helped to shape her childhood followed by the textbooks that had tormented her all semester. The last thing she put away was the letter she had been writing. Rachel touched the tip of her finger to the edge of her signed name and breathed a sigh of relief. It was dry.

The letter was very important to Rachel. She had written it on special stationary and had used her quill and ink set. As a poor college student it was astounding that she would spring for such a luxury in the first place. Every time she used it she risked wasting it. This particular letter was worth it. Carefully, Rachel folded the large piece of parchment and tucked it away into an already addressed envelope.

Rachel shifted her messenger bag to her left shoulder and walked away from her station. She wound her way through the stacks and eventually back to the main staircase. On auto-pilot, Rachel made her way through the lobby of the library, down the steps to the main courtyard and to the shuttle stop. At the shuttle stop was also the mail drop. Once there, Rachel retrieved the letter and a stamp from her bag. Carefully she applied the small stamp to the upper right hand corner of the envelope.

Perfect

, she thought.

He should get it in about three days. Just in time for the beginning of Christmas break.

She slowly pulled the handle on the mail box and gently slid the letter into the darkness. Rachel pulled her sweater around her tightly as she walked over to the granite benches to sit and wait for the shuttle. As she waited, the wind brushed refreshingly across her face. Her hair whipped around her as if it had a mind of its own. Instead of panicking over her "ruined" hair, Rachel leaned back and closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her skin as she drifted into the past. . .

******

"Alright guys, focus. This is our last competition; we've got to make it count. For the seniors, and for me, okay?" Rachel looked into the face of each teenager surrounding her: Jeff, Stephanie, Leah, Matt, and Gabriel. Gabriel was only a sophomore then, but he was practically bursting with potential. She herself was only a junior, but this was her last year with the Regiment. Although Jeff should have been giving the pep talk, he was standing directly to her right, silent. It was up to her to get these Eagles prepared for the challenge ahead of them.

"Listen up, Regiment!" The voice of the director sounded over the heads of the band kids gearing up for their version of battle. "Bring it in. We've got some people to honor today." The group gathered around their leader and some of the band moms as names were called. The names were those of the seniors in the Regiment. One by one they stepped forward and had a red carnation pinned to their black uniforms.

Rachel watched the seniors listlessly. This was their last competition with the Regiment. A big deal to most. She felt tears begin to gather in her eyes as she realized that this was also her last time marching with the Eagle Marching Regiment. She was only brought out of her daze when she heard the voice of the director call out after all the seniors had been pinned. "And finally," he declared, "last, but certainly not least, Rachel Ravenswood. Today we celebrate her moving on to the next stage of her life even if it is all the way in California."

Stumbling forward, Rachel finally felt the tears fall and slide over her cheeks. Pinned and in place, the carnation rested directly over her heart.

My heart will always be with these people, my friends. No matter how far away I end up.

The ceremony of change ended with Rachel. The band members finished putting on their uniforms and prepared for their last show. They assembled in the formation they had learned by heart and were marched onto the field by the cadences they heard in their sleep. In silence and with concentration the Regiment settled into the opening set of the show. The warm up came and went leaving the members of the Regiment with the gut-wrenching anticipation that precedes the count off. Before Rachel could breathe, it began. The step-off, the counting, the swell of the music. . .

******

. . . And vibrating. . .? Opening her eyes, Rachel found herself no longer on the football field surrounded by her friends, but back on the granite bench, her cell phone ringing. Glancing at the caller ID, she smiled and answered, "Hi, love! I'm just outside the library. Jacob, you've been here a million times and should know where to turn by now."

Yes

, she thought,

the past is gone. Gabriel remains my only link after three years and nearly 2,000 miles.