Worth It

Worth It (225 Words)

It was a beautiful sight. Daria leaned over the boat edge, letting her hand trail in the water. The current pulled past her arm, troubling the reflection of fireflies and starlight. The moon shone clear, and the silver glow lit the world like another kind of day, bright and enlivening.

“Do you think it’s worth it?” she asked.

Ruad was barely awake, resting in the boat. At her question, his eyes half-opened.

“What do you mean?”

“All this,” she said. She motioned around them, at the peacefulness, at the beauty that seemed to almost mock the hardship they had faced, the injustices and grief that were still in the world. “Is it all worth it?”

Ruad’s hand on her arm made her look up. His dark eyes were sad but certain.

“It doesn’t make up for what we have lost,” he said. “It can never do that. But it is worth it.”

Daria wiped her cheek with her sleeve. “I miss Emmy so much.”

“Me too.” Ruad sat up and Daria let him pull her into a loose embrace.

“Do you think she sees it? Us?”

Ruad looked at the dark head leaning against him. He tried to keep the brokenness from his voice.

“I know she does,” he said. “And I know that more than any of us, she sees what this is worth.”

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Written in response to the Daily Post’s Daily Prompt, “Rebel.” Also written as a reaction to Melissa Graves-Brown’s beautiful painting, Jewel River. Check it out and support the artist!