Invincible

A boy and a girl on a mountain, looking out over a vast green forest.  Twilight.  Soft, still, calm.

He speaks first.

"We think we're so young, so invincible."

"We are young."

"Yes, we are young, but not invincible."

They stand in silence for a moment, looking out over the tree tops in the last light of day.

She ponders.

"How long do crickets live?"

"I don't know, but not forever.  Nothing lasts forever."

"What about those trees?  They've been there practically forever."

A bit of a grunt.  "Those trees haven't even been there close to forever."

Frowning.  "Well, it might as well be forever as far as we're concerned."

A smirk, softening to a smile.  "Yeah, well, I suppose you're right."

She steps closer and he takes her hand.  She looks up at him and smiles.

"Can love last forever?"

He rubs the back of her hand tenderly, looking down at it.  "If anything could, love would."

"But you don't think even that can last?"

A shrug.  "It's fragile.  It may ultimately endure, but it gets cracked a lot along the way."

A playful snort.  "Trying to sound poetic or something?"

Another shrug.  "I do my best."

Smiles.

She looks up at the stars.

"I wonder how close we've come to finding them all."

"Not even."

She lets go of his hand and sits.  He sits beside her.

She shivers a little and he puts his arm around her.

"Cold?"

"A little."

Again with the silence.  Crickets chirp.  The first owl of the night hoots in the distance.

"We aren't going back down tonight."

"I know."

She sighs deeply.  A tear slips down her face, unnoticed in the twilight.

"I loved her, you know."  Her voice cracks.

He sighs and frowns.  "Everyone did."

He turns to him.  "Tell me something about her, something I didn't already know."

He manages a smile as he turns to look at her.  He runs his fingers through her hair.  "Not tonight.  I don't think I can."

She puts her hand on his knee.  That owl hoots again.  "I love you," she says.

"I love you, too."

The light is almost gone.  Darkness is making its way across the land.

"We think we're so young, so invincible."

She cuddles close and he holds her tight.  As she starts to cry, he lets himself cry, too.  As the crickets grow louder and drown out what's left of the silence, there's nothing else to say.