I never knew you at all

The flame danced in the wind, I kept staring at it so it wouldn’t, so it couldn’t go out, I wasn’t going to let that happen, I wanted the candle to burn all the way.

Beads of wax had already dripped down, making little puddles on the chocolate frosting, but that didn’t bother me. I wasn’t planning on eating the cupcake anyway, it wasn’t for me.

Lightning flashed in the distance, and the rumbling boom of thunder followed a few seconds later. The summer storm was coming.

That’d ruin the cupcake for sure, even if the wind didn’t blow it off onto the ground, the rain would surely soak it.

Didn’t matter, I knew that. The cupcake could sit here forever, it’d never be touched, never get tasted, never be eaten.

“I baked it for you, Mom, I thought you’d like one, to celebrate. I know, it’s not my birthday, it’s not your birthday, it’s not anybody’s birthday, not really, but you know, you know, I think you’d like what day it would have been.”

I try not to cry.

“If I’d let it. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t let that day happen.”

I leave the graveyard before the rain begins to fall.

The candle was still burning.