Moonlight Shadows

“Did you tell Roxy goodnight?” Sabrina Parkington asked as she slipped out of the darkened kitchen and into her husband’s arms for a final embrace. Jonathan Parkington, a native of the Orange Islands, was leaving New Bark Town for what seemed like the thousandth time, and no one dreaded these partings more than Sabrina. Once you were on the open sea, facing all that nature had in store for you, with untamed Pokemon wandering through the country, you didn’t know if those you loved would return.

That’s why the embrace was all the more meaningful. Sabrina pressed herself tight against him, wanting this feeling to linger for as long as she would allow herself to. “I did,” Jonathan answered, his gaze distant. “Damn it, Sabrina, leaving you and Roxy is always the hardest thing I have to do.”

“I know, I know, but work comes first,” Sabrina answered, allowing herself a smile as she gazed up into her husband’s weathered face, his blond hair in a buzz cut. “You did promise Roxy you’d be home for her fifth birthday, didn’t you? Because I want to see you then, too.”
“Of course, I’m sure Roxy will grow into a skilled trainer and be a best friend to the Pokemon she adds to her team. Once I come home, the lessons will begin.”

“I look forward to it, Jonathan,” Sabrina replied softly.

"Sabrina?” her husband ventured finally.

“Hmmm?” his wife answered, her brown eyes closed.

“If we keep standing around like this, I’ll never leave.”

"True,” Sabrina smiled, the slightest hint of laughter in her tone as she stepped back. They walked to the front door and Sabrina pulled it open, nodding to Jonathan. “After you, enjoy your trip, sir.”

“I will. Goodbye Sabrina,” he whispered, his rough hand lingering on her cheek. “See you…and Roxy…in a few weeks.” In one instant his back was to her, pulling his favorite leather jacket on over his clothes.

“Jonathan…” Sabrina began hesitantly, but she never finished her sentence. Jonathan bent down and gave her a kiss, fleeting, warm and full of passion. Just like him… Sabrina thought. When they pulled away, Jonathan was once again the shy thirteen-year-old she had met so many years ago during a vacation to the Orange Islands.

“I was hoping you’d ask,” he grinned, and even in the darkness of the foyer she could tell he was slightly blushing. “I need to go now…for real this time.” She nodded, any meaningful words gone from her mind. Her husband walked through the open door, his boots making soft clunks against the sidewalk. She watched him get in his car and drive away, lingering on the threshold for what seemed like an eternity before returning to bed. Besides, she had a daughter that she loved just as much waiting for her inside.

That was the last time she saw him.

***

“It’s my birthday, Mommy!” Roxy exclaimed, almost flying down the stairs the morning of July 23. Sabrina was up already, pulling out the mixing bowl, spoon, flour, sugar, eggs, and other necessary ingredients to make a five-year-old’s dream cake. This was a double day of excitement for Roxy: it was her birthday and Daddy had promised her a Pokemon. She ran into the kitchen, still in her gray pajamas as she struggled to watch her mother at work. “You’re going to make it with buttercream icing, right?” she asked excitedly, trying to see the ingredients laid out on the counter.

“The very best for my little girl!” Sabrina giggled, giving Roxy a light kiss on her head. “Now you go wait for Daddy at the front window, I can’t very well be his welcoming committee if I’m baking a cake, can I?”

“No, you’d be all sticky and sweet!” Roxy laughed, bounding into the dining room and over to the front window.

The day’s weather was overcast, but she could care less. As she pulled up the window blinds and looked up the street, she imagined what would happen when Daddy got home. He would pull up in his slick blue car, get out and walk up to the house, ringing the doorbell to alert her and Mommy that he had arrived. Roxy was ready, poised to run from the dining room to the door in two seconds flat. He would scoop her into his arms, both of them laughing, and Mommy would come in, pulling off her apron in preparation for going to Professor Elm’s lab. They would come back for cake, and then Roxy and her new Pokemon friend would play together until sunset. In just a few minutes Daddy would come home, he’d truly be home… Once he was here, the family would no longer be broken, and only then would Roxy feel happy.

The young girl had been so lost in her fantasy that she only just noticed the car pulling into the driveway. She knew it wasn’t Daddy’s car, but perhaps it needed repair and Daddy had asked Officer Jenny for a ride back to New Bark Town. Roxy didn’t stop to think on it anymore, instead racing to the door, pulling it open just as the sound of the doorbell resounded through the house.

“Daddy!” Roxy exclaimed happily, expecting to be lifted into her father’s arms, but the warm embrace never came. She blinked, her blue-green eyes meeting Officer Jenny’s grave gray ones. She bit her lip, unsure of what to do or say. “You’re not Daddy, where is he?” she asked, trying to battle against the tears of disappointment that threatened to pour from her eyes. At that moment Sabrina walked into the foyer, a look of concern on her face. “Is something wrong, Jenny?” she asked, pressing Roxy to the leg of her jeans.

Jenny’s eyes watered, not daring to meet Sabrina or Roxy’s worried faces. This was going to be hard. “Sabrina, I have some terrible news…”
***

“Jonathan was the spark of light in everyone’s lives, but none more so than the wife and daughter he leaves behind to grieve for him. Even though those in Shamouti Isle are burying him, we can still stand in the middle of this peaceful stretch of countryside and remember the man that loved his family and Pokemon equally.” Sabrina stood at the edge of the crowd in the only black dress she owned, there in body, but not truly taking in the words of the minister. The past few days had seemed surreal, as if she were dreaming: the constant visits of the neighbors, the food they had brought that now overflowed their kitchen, the kind words. She knew they meant well, but nothing could fill the void that had formed the day she received the news that Jonathan was gone. How could she explain all this to Roxy?

She turned, scanning the field for her daughter, who was sitting against a distant tree with her knees to her chest. Even from a distance, Sabrina could see Roxy squirm in the sky blue chiffon dress she had forced her into earlier that afternoon. Roxy had always grown up in shirts, shorts, and jeans, so wearing a dress was a new, uncomfortable experience.

Sabrina knew that she wouldn’t be missed, so she quietly slipped through the group of her neighbors, now mourners for the husband she’d lost, and over to her daughter. “Roxy, are you okay?” she asked, sitting on the grass and drawing her daughter into her lap. Roxy had been grave throughout the entire ceremony, but now the tears were freely falling.

“D-Daddy’s g-g-gone, isn’t he?” she managed to burble into her mother’s shoulder. “H-he promised me we’d get a Pokemon together and now…he’s gone!”

“Honey, I know how you must feel, but…we’ll make it through this together.”

Roxy wiped a hand across her wet eyes. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Sabrina replied.

“Mommy…” Roxy started hesitantly. “You love me, don’t you?”

“I do…and don’t you ever doubt that,” Sabrina answered softly, rocking her little girl to sleep until neither of them could cry anymore.