The Pearly Gates

From the east bank of Dettifoss, a long road leads to the humungous waterfall that takes about one hour of a drive and several minutes of a walk. With the gushing waters ever so loud, its terrain trembles, more so on the edges. Just about a couple of yards away, a young meteorologist holds a white, puffy jacket from his right hand. The name "Kieran" is sewed within the tag inside the coat of the jacket, as the breeze made it sway with its rhythm. Moving closer to the edge carefully, the man named Kieran swung his right arm towards the waterfall, his jacket caught in the gushing waters. As soon as it was out of sight, he turned around and began to sit yards away from the edge.

Kieran, sitting in a meditator's position, called for the rich, the one messenger he accompanies. From the gushing water falling to the next ground stage below, every second heard silences the footsteps of a private university student. Once he saw vision, he took a quick glance to her direction. As if she has not seen him for a while, she beams and waves to Kieran. Not a moment too soon she joined him, the cold, trembling rocks a bothersome.

The icy yet green lands portray a state of rocky ground. As hard as that is, Kieran portrays that state of emotion as the girl shot an icy glare at his dull eyes suddenly. As he closed his eyes shut to break the stare, she rolled her eyes and looked towards the gushing waters of the beautiful waterfall in front of them.

"Kieran, why are you so calm in such a cold place," she asked with a gentle voice. "Speaking of which, where is your jacket?"

"Not to be mean Angel, but will you please get to the point as to why you're here?"

With such a cold, stern voice with no sudden movement nor eye contact, Kieran continues to meditate as he said his frank statement. As for Angel, it hit her in the heart, her expression revealing a shocked mask. She gave a small gasp, her right palms of her hand on the cold ground, and her left hand right on her chest, hands closed. She stood up, angry at him for not responding to her questions.

"You're going to catch a cold," she yelled. "Chiara gave you that jacket for a reason."

"I threw it in the waterfall in front of us," said Kieran with a monotonous voice.

"If you didn't like it in the first place, then why-"

"Don't mind me. What's your point for being here?" Kieran stated and asked with a stern voice once again.

"I was told about your whereabouts and thought that I would follow."

"Now why would you want to follow me all the way here in the northeastern Dettifoss?"

"I've got a message for you from Chiara herself."

"Oh, and next time, don't make me catch you following me all the way here."

"Humph."

The mention of Chiara's incoming message made them both silent. Nothing but the waterfall emitted sounds. Both Kieran and Angel looked downwards the rocky terrain, sadden by the thought of the news yet to bring. Kieran then looked back at the gushing waters, while Angel keeps looking downwards to Kieran's direction. She keeps holding back, but she found it unnecessary since she has limited time. She then finally spoke.

"Chiara wanted you to know that she did it for her sake, not yours. She said it's okay if you still hate her or even mad at her. She had to move on with her life, and her god parents wanted her to transfer from Canada. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. She couldn't bear the thought of losing you once more, but she had to go.

The important thing is to let go. Look, I don't know what brought you here, and I'm hoping it's for a good reason. I don't want anything to happen to you. So, whatever is going on in that head of yours, you might as well tell me now."

The strong message left Kieran a saddening expression, leaving him speechless. Chiara to him was everything. After ten long years, Kieran had found her sister back in Iceland. The thought of losing her again left him broken, which left Kieran no chose but to continue what he had to do in the first place he visited Dettifoss. Two minutes passed and Kieran had not said a word to break the silence. When he finally spoke, his voice was trembling as if he did not want to say what he needs to say.

"They were the only family I had left. We lost her when I was just a little kid, and now I'm losing her again only after a year meeting her. They promised me that they'd look after me, and now look what they've done. Now I'm all alone again like the days my parents abandoned me, when they promised they'll return back the next day. I've waited for days and they never did came back, only finding disappointment and loneliness. After the fifth day, they told me why they never came back. A thousand tears are millions of raindrops. That's how I'm feeling right now."

As he took a deep breath, he meditated once more. This time was to calm himself down. When he closed his eyes so did Angel. Once more the silence tore them apart, the waterfall not a disturbance. After the whole experience under the sleepless dawn, she inhaled and exhaled, leaving a smoke of air behind. Opening her eyes, she turned around, facing away from him to the south, finding a way to say what she wants him to hear.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you feel that way. You must be tired right now."

"It's quite alright, honest. It's not the first time I've felt this way."

"I'm sorry that I let you relive that memory again. I'll just leave you and your meditation alone. I'll see you eventually."

"It's fine. Just please, don't promise anything to me, not even for tomorrow."

"I'm not like your extended family. Besides, I don't do promises."

As Angel walked away, the gushing waters suddenly became an illusion to Kieran. When he opened his eyes once more, he looked to the direction of Angel's footsteps. When he found out that she was not there anymore, he glared back at the gushing waters of Dettifoss. Kieran finally stood up, his legs all bruised with wounds and scars. As he limped towards the wet and trembling edge of the rocky terrain, droplets of icy water ran down his teary-eyed face and arms. Embracing the actual truth and the cold, numb air, he was ready to become one with the waterfall.

"It's only fair for her to not know what I was going to do. Whether the lie or truth, maybe both. I'm sorry everyone," he paused momentarily. "Hey, I'm waiting for you both on the other side, so hang on."

Kieran took one more deep breath - inhale and exhale, once, twice and three times. He felt the trembling ground below him, meeting the end of his life. He took four more steps from each leg - one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight altogether. He bent down to get rid of his shoes from his feet, kning that it is hard to keep balance with them on. He then took his belt off, where a note was wrapped around it and left it laying down behind him on the ground. He felt the cold ground, the cold breeze and the cold waterfall that soon beds him. For a waterfall that is one hundred and forty-eight feet, he begun to let himself swiftly fall into the water's icy heaven.

Though when he fell was when Angel came back in full anxiety. She came back to tell him what she forgot to tell him about Chiara the long-lost sister. Only then a minute after looking for his whereabouts she heard a faint scream. However, she went for the belt she saw laying almost by the edge instead of investigating the scream she just heard. She took the note away from the belt and left it laying besides his pair of shoes. Opening the note, Angel cried in tears of helplessness. It read:

"Every other tomorrow is different, changing what you don't want it to be. Tomorrow is not promised."

Within that hour frame, Angel sat down helplessly, trembling along with the rushed waters. Today was not of a planned course. She expected Kieran to at least be happy for once since his return to Iceland. Angel cared for him every day, the only one in the close-related friends of Chiara's family. Angel expected a normal day where Kieran pretended to be happy for her and walk her home. Until she heard his whereabouts, she knew then something was up. She didn't know what, and she didn't know when she saw him, curious as to why he was here.

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