To Tell Or Not To Tell? ⏳A Weekend FreeWrite 5 Minutes x 3⏳

He was anxious for everyone to go to bed. He washed his hands and cleaned his knife..

For months he had been screening through books, websites, videos. He was obsessed with the idea, the possibilities. And tonight was no different. He continued cleaning up the kitchen as if it was just another normal wash up but it wasn't.

"Every time she visits, she gets closer. I think she is starting to remember, getting more comfortable. If she comes tonight,... when she comes tonight, I am going to touch her."

He sounded like a mad man. It's a good thing he had only told one other person about it. He added some last minute touches to the Dragon Fruit, more for his sanity then anything else. Then he placed two Red Roses to add to his Food Art.

As a Chef, he had the gift of turning any fruit into a piece of art. As he placed the heart he was carving out of the Dragon Fruit onto a plate, he remembered all the times he had done this for her. He held on to the plate and stood in the dark waiting.

He watched the stairs incase Calista woke up and came down. She had a tendency to sleep walk ever since the accident. He wondered if Calista saw her too. But he didn't ask. Not until he himself had made sense of what was going on.

Maybe tonight he will be able to get a little closer to what was happening. Though he was afraid to shake up anything too much, he was eager to find out more. Eager to hold her.

I was unsure of her motivation for changing that pattern.

I was tense as I waited, watching through the screen. I wondered where all this would lead. It didn't feel like it was going to have a happy ending.

When he told me what was going on, he cried through it all. His nose runny, his eyes red, his body shaking. I wasn't sure if he was losing his mind, but we grew up together, best friends from day one. I had to at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

Tonight, he asked me to stay over so I could see for myself. I had been very sure, nothing would happen. That I could tell him it was time to move on. He was looking weak, his eyes tired. No sleep does that to a person.

I couldn't see any movement on the screen. He had told me that he didn't want to startle her. The first time he got excited, he had scared her and it was weeks before she came back to visit, he explained.

I sat in my bed, looking at what the CCTV was capturing. I was in the guest room that was reserved for my visits. I was very familiar with everything here. Even the little Welcome card little Calista would leave for me on the bed pretending she was the owner of the hotel her daddy worked at.

But tonight she left me her second favourite soft toy as well. I was unsure of her motivation for changing that pattern and didn't want to fuss over it. I will ask her gently over breakfast. Everything that had happened surely was too much for my best friend let alone his 5 year old daughter.

I saw the Dragon Fruits he had cut, in 3D looking like one of those pop-up cards. I knew Careena was always in awe of her father's skills and would watch him carve out shapes, telling stories through the fruits. And she wanted to be just like him when she grew up. The Dragon Fruit Heart was her favourite.

I wondered if she really liked the fruit or it was watching her father shape them that made the fruit her favourite. Which came first?

And then I saw her. More like an apparition. She wasn't solid, just faint like vapour.

Are you sick?

As he stepped out of the dark, she looked at him. Emotions were erupting on both sides as they looked at each other. She was still a little scared to approach him which made him a little scared to approach her.

She tilted her head to one side, as if trying to make sense of everything around her. She looked like she shuddering.

"Are you sick?" he asked softly. She shook her head as she looked around. He quickly wiped a tear.

He stepped towards her and she moved back. He left the plate of dragon fruit on the counter and smiled as he took a step back.

She smiled but didn't touch it. She looked around as if she was seeing this place for the very first time and yet, she seemed to know it as she moved towards the living room.

I watched through the camera until I lost her and then him as he slowly and softly followed.

What did I just see? I could understand his confusion. Anybody would have lost it losing two people in a crash. My best friend loved his family and losing both wife and his older daughter was too much and rightly so.

He went through a very difficult time and when he first told me, I was very sure he had lost it. But what did I just see? Nothing good is going to come off this. This thought, the feeling was crystal clear.

Do I tell him theat I saw nothing and help him move forward or do I tell him the truth?

It's the Weekend, and this time around the Free Write challenges you with 3 prompts. You don't know what's coming until you finish one and move on to the next post. This time I had to add a couple of the Weekday Prompts that I had missed out - "screening" and "runny". Hope you liked the story. You can find out more at @mariannewest or the @freewritehouse.

All Images & Videos are MinE unless stated

Thank you for reading 😊
Til we meet again over text, pics, videos, maybe even coffee - Steem On!!

❤️👇🏿Part of these Tribes with Pride 👇🏿❤️