The Scent Of The White Plums Essay Examples

Today is my cousin’s second death anniversary. It was already two years since her death, but still the memory of our adventures together still lingers in my mind, fresh as if they only happened yesterday. Anne was my favorite cousin, mainly because we share the same attitude and interests. She was a year older than me, adventurous, outgoing and fun-loving. One will never have a dull moment in their lives whenever she was around. During our childhood years, we always went to town every Christmas to see the colorful festivities and parades. Together with our close friends, we visited each house at the town to taste their specialty. This fun tradition always happens every Christmas which makes the children happy. I even recall a moment when Anne and I visited the local church to pray. After that, she would go to the churchyard to get some white plums and made them into garlands. Anne often loved adorning my head with her white plum garlands. We always spend the whole day laughing and making beautiful white plum garlands and necklaces whilst adorning them to each other’s heads. For me, those memories alone are my treasures to keep since Anne was no longer alive to accompany me. The day she died, I fell into a depression and took months to fully recover from her early death. Anne was only eighteen when she died due to brain cancer and even in her death; she was cheerful, happy and acted as the family comedian. She never failed to let anyone know that she never regretted living her short life with us. She died eventually in 2013 after battling months of terminal brain cancer, just four days after the New Year’s celebration. I visited her grave today and offered flowers as a token of appreciation for her company and friendship as well. It was a warm, sunny day; the flowers are blooming brightly. I sat on a nearby stone bench and silently admired the greenery surrounding the park. There were lots of people visiting their family’s grave whilst some children played leap-frog and chased the doves. The sight of them playing and the sound of the merry laughter brought back the happy memories of me and Anne when she was still alive; our merry days of childhood playing out in the green fields whilst the warm rays of the sun caressed our cheeks. Memories came rushing to me and I felt hot tears streaming from my eyes; everything reminded me of her and it makes me sad because I truly miss her so much. I took out my pen and journal and wrote down my thoughts. As I flipped through the pages, a picture fell. It was me and Anne in the photograph and it was taken right after we graduated from high school. Somehow, seeing her smile even in the photograph, made my heart lighter and eased my pain a little bit. I held our photo close to my heart and closed my eyes. Suddenly, a light gust of wind blew gently to my face. And then, I heard a girl’s familiar voice whisper in my right ear, “Please be happy” and then it slowly faded along with the wind. I opened my eyes and looked around me. I sat in a secluded spot; all the people are merrily laughing and having their picnics at the center of the park. I still do not understand who said those words to me so it must have been my imagination after all. Anne was already dead, there is no way she could have spoken those words to me but I heard her voice, crystal clear. When I looked down beside the stone bench, I found a garland of white plum blossoms formed into a halo. Then the words echoed again once more, “Please be happy”. I found myself picking up the fragrant halo and placed it on my head, just like the old times when Anne was still alive. I looked to her grave and smiled a genuine smile of happiness for the first time. It was as if Anne cheered me up and lifted the heavy sadness inside my heart. And then, I saw Anne’s face, smiling directly at me as she bid me her last farewell. I am stunned, rooted to my place and the only thing that I can do was to blink and rub my eyes for fear of seeing things. Looking again to her grave, I saw nothing but the stone mark bearing her name, no sign of anything suspicious. Perhaps, it was only my imagination, probably because I really wanted to see her and my brain conjured up images of her sweet, smiling face. However, my heart believes that it was not just a simple imagination; no matter what my rational part thinks, I felt the genuine presence of Anne beside me. I turned around to see Anne’s spirit, but nothing was behind me; nothing but the breeze and the scent of white plum blossoms.