Dreams of Truth

Four months later Cody read the script letters carved in the granite headstone. Tears welled up in his eyes. Lila�s parents had loved his poem, his eulogy, his way of describing her with the meanings of her name. But would they have put it on if they had known he had brought on the pain that had killed her?

What pain? He thought again as he reached for his wallet ignoring the ringing cell phone in his pocket. What did I do?

He opened his wallet pulling out the note he hated, the note that tore his heart, the note he couldn�t seem to be separated from. Reading it again for what seemed like the millionth time he refolded it, placing it back in his wallet.

Before he walked down the cement path towards his car he whispered, �What did I do?�

~~**~~

Cody opened the gate to the cemetery and left, turning around to quietly shut the door.

A car pulled up behind him. He turned around to see Brandy Lynch stepping out.

�I knew you�d be here!� she chirped happily.

Cody smiled slightly. �Hey Brandy.�

She strode over to Cody and wrapped her arms around his waist. Looking up at him she reached up and kissed him slowly before saying, �You know baby, you have to stop coming here so often. It�s depressing. Let�s go somewhere fun.�

�Where do you want to go?� he asked, placing one arm around her.

�My house?� she asked looking at him.

Cody smiled. �All right babe. Let�s go.� He pulled away from her and walked to his car.

�I'll go in your car with you. We can come back later to get mine," she said quickly following him to the passenger side of his car.

"Okay."

They rode in silence for awhile. Brandy reached over and stroked his neck. "You always get so depressed when you visit Lila's grave. Why?"

Cody sighed and stared out the window. Finally he whispered, "You know why."

Brandy sighed this time, "Sweetie, it's not your fault. I don't understand why you think that."

Cody continued to stare out the window. No one knew about the note that Lila wrote out for him. The content of the note drove him crazy. What had he done to cause her to be so sad? What had he done to turn his warm, caring, loving girlfriend into a girl who was cold and wanted her love to suffer?

"I'm sorry Cody. I didn't mean to bring her up."

Cody looked over at Brandy and smiled. He had thought he'd never find another girl that he wanted to be with after Lila. But Brandy had helped him through Lila's death, and after awhile they had grown to love each other.

"I know, baby," he whispered.

~~**~~

Lila was lying on her back, her hair spread around the pillow. She hadn't changed out of her nightgown yet. Her fingers drummed nervously on the soft mattress. She looked at the clock again. She still had a couple hours to wait before her date with Cody.

Getting off the bed she walked over to her desk and sat down at the computer. She clicked on the task bar bringing Word up. Minimizing her school report she pulled up another page to write in.

Looking at the framed picture of Cody by her computer she changed the font and then began typing. She reread what she had just written and clicked on print. The laser printer had the document out in seconds.

Lila picked it up and looked at the clock one more time. Sighing again she slumped down in the chair. Suddenly she straightened up and opened a drawer in her desk. She pulled out an old-fashioned letter opener and walked into the bathroom. Filling the tub with water she stepped in when it was full and slowly slipped the pointed end of the letter opener into her abdomen, wincing as the blood flowed out and made the water she was immersed in thick.

Cody woke up panting heavily. He had been having this dream ever since her death. Tonight, however, as he rolled over trying to blot out the image with his pillow, something struck him as wrong with the scene he had just dreamt.