Free Remember Our Song by Emma South Page B

heart lift the closer we got to the city and I saw streets, buildings, entire areas that I recognized.  Sure, some stores had changed, but the feel of the place was the same, it felt homely.
    “Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to go before Bloxhamtech?  They’ve made sure the room is clear for a couple of hours this afternoon, but we’ve got plenty of time before then, we can go anywhere you want,” Jeremy asked.
    “Crown Hill Cemetery.  It’s on the…”
    “I know where it is.”
    “I want to see my Dad.”
    “OK, Bea.”
    Jeremy stayed on Interstate 5 right through the center of Seattle and out the north side, taking the appropriate exit and pulling the car over at the side of the street next to the cemetery.
    “Do you want me to come with you?” he asked.
    “No.  Thanks, though.  I just want to have a talk with my Dad alone.  Can I have an hour?”
    “We’ve got more than enough time.  You take as long as you need, I’ll stay here, just make a few calls and answer some emails.  If I think I spot Elvis and I chase him down in the car, or I go get a snack, I’ll make sure I’m back in an hour and then I’ll stay put.”
    “Thanks,” I laughed, “get an autograph for me if you catch him.”
    “Deal.”
    I stepped out of the car and shut the door behind me, putting my jacket on, thankful that I’d brought it.  I should have worn a sweater too, I’d been caught kind of off guard by the difference in temperature between L.A and Seattle today.  I walked through the gate and past the rows of tombstones, over a gentle hill until I turned to my right and went between two rows, past all the names I didn’t know until I found the one that I did.
    Henry Hampton
    Husband and Father
    Taken tragically and missed forever.
    10/26/1963 – 06/15/2003
    With some difficulty I managed to sit myself on the ground, ignoring the vague traces of morning dew still clinging to a few blades of grass.  I stared at the tombstone for a while, with no idea where to start.
    It wasn’t fair.  I thought my memory was ‘normal’ for things that happened before I turned eighteen, but even little details of my Dad were fading.  I remembered that thought going through my head the last time I recalled visiting the grave, which was eight years ago now.  How often had I visited since then?  I had no idea.
    “I’m sorry,” I blurted out, feeling the words let loose a torrent of tears and sobs that shook my whole body.  “I could really use your shoulder to cry on again.  I’m trying to be tough, like you said, but it’s hard.”
    I wiped my eyes and nose on the sleeve of my jacket, having no handkerchief, just letting the tears and sobs run their course until I felt almost empty, like everything inside me had been poured on to the ground and would soon evaporate just like the few beads of dew still visible here and there.
    Eventually the tears ran out and the last wipe of my sleeve left my vision as clear and cloudless as the sky above.  I looked at the grave and the dead flowers in a little holder at the base of the tombstone.  Reaching forward, I pulled the crumbly brown stems out and cast them aside.
    “I don’t know how long it’s been since I was here.  I was in an accident and I got hurt pretty bad, hit my head and knocked eight years right out of it, can you believe that?”
    The grave didn’t answer, but I imagined the big hug he would have given me.  I would have given anything for that hug to be real, to turn the clock back to a time when he was there to keep me safe.
    “I woke up in the future and it’s a scary place.  I don’t know anybody, but everybody apparently knows me.  I’m married.  Married .  To exactly the kind of guy I promised you I wouldn’t fall for too.  I don’t know what to do.  Help me, Dad.”

Chapter 7
    According to the directory near the elevators, Bloxhamtech Ltd took up an entire two floors of the downtown Seattle skyscraper it was situated in.