SC: Still

It's been a long time, but finally! This idea actually came... as I was about to go to sleep yesterday. It's not one of my greatest, but still. See if you understand what it means.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am probably just a smudge in your memory by now – your life has gone on without me. But I know I still hold a special place in your heart, just like you do mine.

Though we spent such a short time together – insufficient, I would say – I could feel your love for me growing stronger each day. You carried me under your heart; our hearts beat as one. In the beginning, when I was weak, you nurtured me until I slowly grew strong.

Just not strong enough, it seemed.

On that fateful night, you fell asleep with me, your hand covering the place where I laid protectively. But I sensed something was wrong. I felt myself fading away; everything became white. I tried holding on, with the little strength you had given me the past months, but nothing would’ve been strong enough. I knew you felt the pain in your heart alongside me, but sleep kept you drugged enough to keep from stirring. I looked at you one last time, before rising up into the air, disappearing into nothingness.

From then on, I watched over you. We’d gone too far; I saw myself come out of you. I watched as you drenched yourself in grief and depression – it broke my heart what I’d done to you. Still, there was nothing I could do except watch.

I have followed your life ever since: you have a little girl, Clara, with a baby boy coming on the way. I’ve seen the way you make pancakes for her at breakfast; the way your arm snakes around her protectively before crossing the street. These wordless actions speak the world – motherly love.

I also see the times when you think no one is watching, and how your mouth turns down slightly at the corners. How your eyes narrow, unconsciously, a glimpse into the sorrow still locked away in your heart.

I could’ve been the first one. I could’ve been the one looking after Clara. I could’ve been the one changing diapers for the new baby. I could’ve… anything. But I didn’t. Now I’m just a distant memory. Because when I came… I was still.