BY LENA WAN
Copyright is held by the author.
“Good pick,” Wren said. “You have a knack for picking out really cool places to visit.”
“Well, we don’t have a lot of time left,” said her husband, Caden. “Besides, everyone has to check out the Dettifoss waterfall at some point when they’re in Iceland.”
Wren nodded and turned away from the waterfall to look at the specks of tourists creeping along the trail that lead to the lookout they were standing on. A few dared to leave the trail to walk on the grass to get closer to the rocks along the edge of the waterfall. But Wren and Caden opted to keep their spot on the lookout, standing just far enough from the edge to take in the panoramic view of the water plunging into the canyon below. They could move a few steps closer, she thought to herself. It wasn’t like getting closer to the edge would matter much in this case anyway.
Wren’s eyes drifted up towards the overcast sky then over to Caden who was transfixed on the torrents of water cascading over the rocks. He hadn’t said anything or even moved since they arrived. Wren wanted to say something, but what? Part of her felt that they were already talked out, that everything that needed to be said had been said. They were already emotionally spent so were words really necessary at this point?
She continued this mental debate while zipping up her blue jacket. Maybe she owed him some time to think and reflect, without babbling about her feelings and random things that weren’t going to matter soon. She moved closer to Caden, her right hand brushing his left. He linked his pinky finger through hers and she smiled. Wren looked at him again and realized that for the first time in months, he actually looked at peace, like a man who has accepted the inventible and was ready to let her go.
A beam of sunlight suddenly pierced through the clouds, immediately changing the look and feel of the waterfall. What looked dull and sombre a few minutes ago, now looked bright and alive. Wren shielded her eyes from the sunlight and turned her head towards Caden when she saw it, “Look over there!”
A rainbow formed over the waterfall, bridging the two sides of the river. Caden grabbed her hand and together they walked closer to the edge of the landing to get a better look at the rainbow. To Wren, the rainbow seemed serendipitous and symbolic.
As she was about to share her insight, the view of the Dettifoss abruptly disappeared from her eyes and was replaced with darkness. Caden continued to hold her pinky finger as she used left hand to take off her virtual reality goggles. They stood in her darkened hospital room in an uncomfortable silence, knowing that the end was much closer than it was thirty minutes ago when they put the goggles on. Wren looked at Caden with her eyes welling up and said, “The rainbow was a nice ending.”
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