The locket of the days after!

December 25th, 2030, Christmas Day.

I was sitting in the living room of an old cabin on the outskirts of Albany in the Adirondack mountains. In the living room with me are Chan and Atiya. I rescued them from being eaten by the infected. I choose not to say the actual term due to the fact that it scares them and they are six and eight years old. Chan is eight and Atiya is six. Today marks the first official year of the post-apocalyptic era. I can not believe that it has been a year since the government or what is left of it ended the apocalypses, or that it has been a year and a half since these kids came into my life, nor that it has been six years since I have seen him. I look down at my hands and see the silver heart-shaped locket that Alexander gave me.

"Hey Kichi! Come play with us!" Chan said, as he broke through my thoughts.

"Yeah! Come play!" Atiya cheers. I smiled.

"Okay, okay, I am coming." I replied. For the next few hours, we played various games, such as dress up, tag, ring around the rosy, duck duck goose but that got boring quickly. Then we danced our hearts out, until they got tired. I picked up Atiya and took her to the bed in the other room. I come back out to see Chan hold the silver locket.

"Pretty, isn't it?" I ask. I just chuckled because I startled him which caused him to jump. I walked over to him and kneeled beside him.

"Yeah, It is. Where did you get it? Was it from an old girlfriend?" Chan questioned. I sighed, thinking about the person who gave the locket to me.

" Actually, it was from my boyfriend before the outbreak." I replied. I sighed again because I haven't seen him since that day.

FLASHBACK

August 9th 2024,

It was a beautiful day out. I was outside, sitting in the middle of the lawn trying to find my inner spirit animal. I am a full blooded native American, but I live in one of those cookie cutter houses, in the suburbs with an HOA. And I hate it. Everyone here looks at us differently because of the names and all of the other differences. But I do have one friend, Alexander Schulze. I love him so much it is just that I am not sure he feels the same. My thoughts are broken when I hear his voice call to me.

"Hey Kichi! What's with all the moving boxes?" Alexander questioned. I sighed.

"Hi and remember how I said that My family was moving, well today is the day." I said, with sadness in my voice.

"Man, are you saying this for you living here? Like today?" Alexander questioned. He seems concerned.

"Yeah, when we say goodbye it really will be goodbye." I started to tear up. I have always been a bit emotional.

"Hey! This won't be goodbye, just see you in a while. Look, I know that we have been friends for years and all, but I have noticed that you are very clingy and are only emotional around me. Would that be because you like me more than a friend?" Alexander questioned again. I blushed madly but nodded anyway.

"Then I am guessing this is ok then." He says. I look at him as he plants a kiss on my lips. I just melted. Man, do I love this kid. We break away and look into each other's eyes. That is when my parents come out and say it is time to go. I sigh and get up to leave.

"Kichi, wait! I have something for you before you go." Alexander states as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a medium sized black box. He then opened it and pulled out a silver heart-shaped locket. He then hands it to me.

"A little something to remember me by." Alexander states. I smiled and gave him one last hug and a thank you, before I got into the car and my parents drove away.

End of Flashback

I can still remember the look of sadness and sorrow on his face as he watched me go. I brought my attention back to Chan.

But you are a boy and he was a boy..." Chan didn't finish his sentence but I knew what he was asking.

"Chan sweetheart, Love has no bounds. You can love anyone you want whether they are Asian, like you. Or African like Atiya, German like Alexander, Native American Like me or any other race. Chan, I guess what I am trying to say is that love comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. Love doesn't care whether you are tall or skinny, short or fat. Love doesn't care about your race or color of skin. Love doesn't care whether you are in love with someone the same gender as you. It cares about you! Not the physical features but what is on the inside. Love is not a physical thing but it is there. So, If you love someone, don't be afraid to show it." I explained.

"I see." Chan stated with confidence but I sense a hint of confusion. But before I am able to ask him, Chan yawns. I smile and pick him up, But just as I do, there is knock at the door. I put Chan down and walk over to the door but not without picking up the gun that is next to the chair. Due to the fact that there is no guarantee that all of the infected have been taken care of. I ask who it is I hear no response. I slowly open the door and look to see who it is. I was met with a tall, dark haired, man that seem to be about the same age as me. he was looking down and holding himself to keep warm. I could tell by his posture that he was in fact not one of the infected so I asked him to come in. He slowly stepped forward and I could tell he was indeed half frozen. I got him in side and asked Chan to go to bed. Chan did as he was told. There were two reasons I had Chan go to bed one it's time for bed two I needed to strip this man of his damp and cold clothing. I started stripping this man I got him down to his boxers with some help from him and I gave him the blankets from the couch.

After away he stopped shaking and said thank you to me. My heart nearly dropped. He sounded just like Alex, but older and deeper. I closed my eyes and hummed. I then looked down at the locket.

"You still have that thing? I was certain that you would have lost it or something with what happened to this world." he said.

I spun around and finally got a clear and clean look at his face.

He had black hair, beautiful brown eyes, and a neatly trim beard. I gasped. There he was six years later.

"Alexander Schulze?" I questioned.

"In the flesh baby." Alex stated proudly. I nearly died when he said baby. After a giant hug, a kiss, and another hug. We eventually took a seat on the floor. And we talked for hours. About what life has given or taken from us. I told him about the kids, Chan and Atiya. And Alex told me that I was going to be a great mother figure. I laughed, even if the world was going to pieces, not knowing whether or not you were going to run into one of the infected. Not knowing whether or not the world was even going to be the same again. And that is who my Christmas went, I got my boyfriend back after six years, the world was slowly going back to normal. Will it completely probably not. But hey I have my family. It may be small but we are strong. Merry Christmas!