the stars remain silent (girlxgirl) (lesbian)

no 1: nightmares

"Run!"

An explosion sounded off to her left. The brick and mortar building was destroyed, chunks of stone big enough to punch a hole through someone's skull and ash thick enough to clog lungs and cake the wet eyes of children rained down around her.

People were screaming. Limbs missing, faces bloody. Those who could not run were left behind to the death that the ships wrought on them.

She ran. She ran as fast as her gangly body would carry her. She ran faster than muscles would allow. Through the forest she sprinted, running from the screams, running from the children, running from the blasts. She ran until the only sounds that accompanied the ringing in her ears, her pounding steps and labored breaths, were the cries and steps and breaths of the people running behind her.

The ground began to slope up, gradually at first, but then all at once. Her group was scrambling for footing in the wet leaves, pushed to all fours at times to climb up the steep face of the mountain. It was too late to turn back or change direction. She just kept pushing forward, climbing up, up, up. Leading the pack of terrified people, she did not know where she was going. She was just running away. Away from the terror of that place, away from the torture, away from the guns. Liberated, afraid, she ran.

In the distance she saw a break in the trees, a break in all the trees. The forest was ending. She saw nothing but sky through them – clear blue sky, stretching for eons upon eons. As she got closer, she saw the planets beyond. Inviting and cold, she ran for them. Step by step, hand over hand, she scrabbled ever closer. Underbrush whipped her arms and scratched her face. Her lungs were full of ash and burning from exertion. She would collapse soon. Her body would give up its task of keeping her from danger. The rings of the larger planet hung low in the atmosphere. It would take her in its arms if she could just reach out her hand – it would take her, and she would be safe. They would all be safe.

Closer, closer to the end of the trees. The sky was within reach, it was just a few paces further. Closer to the edge of the forest she came. With one final push, she would be free. With one last burst of energy, she broke away from the forest, planets in sight. Eyes to the sky, she never saw where the ground ended. Eyes to the sky, she stepped out into the atmosphere. Eyes to the sky, she fell down, down, down towards the rocks at the bottom of the cliff face. Her eyes were gazing up towards the heavens when her body made impact. She saw only what could be, with her eyes to the sky and her brains splattered across the—

Erin bolted upright from her pallet. Drenched in sweat, her gaze jerked around the tiny room she called home, searching for signs of danger. Her desk sat untouched in the corner, little machines and tools scattered across it in the same order she left it in last night. The walls glowed unmarred, bright in color to wake her up. Her closet door hung slightly ajar, the row of identical uniforms inside unmoved. Everything but her heaving chest and clenched fists was still and silent, the way it always was when she woke up.

She kicked off tangled sheets that were damp with her perspiration and stumbled towards the bathroom on unsteady feet. She rested her hands on the sink as she gazed into the mirror. A sallow face and exhaustion-plagued eyes gazed back. A short military haircut somehow found a way to be stringy and tired, mirroring how she felt. Erin wiped away the tears she shed during the night and turned towards the shower. She stripped and stepped in, greeted with hot water blasting over her body and washing away her dream.

Erin had relived that nightmare night after night for the past few weeks, and it was beginning to affect her performance. She did not know what was causing it, nor where the elements of the dream came from. She had never experienced anything like the events in the dream. The first few times it happened, Erin had no trouble shaking it off. She was no stranger to the occasional nightmare, not with where she lived. Not with what she endured every day. She used to greet them as an old friend, warning her of the horrors she would have to face when she was released. They served as practice runs for the trauma yet to come, but this nightmare was different. This one felt real, this one felt familiar. Erin couldn't understand why it kept occurring.

The water of the shower rinsed off her fear and sweat, grounding Erin back in reality. She would need to complete yet another day of training – something she couldn't do without giving it her full concentration. Erin stepped out of the shower and the air blasters turned on, drying her in a matter of seconds. She exited the bathroom as the buffeting wind stopped and picked up her sleep-wear as she entered her room. She deposited the clothing down the laundry chute, never to be seen again. With time-weary steps, Erin approached her closet and picked out a uniform. After pulling the jumpsuit up lead-filled legs and over arms burdened with the sorrows of a time long-gone, she turned towards her desk for the day's assignments. Combat Training.

It would be a long morning.