Sparkly

Fruit

Leilah watched a fly eat rotting fruit in the fruit bowl, her elbows planted on the kitchen table and her cheeks smushed against her hands. Her older sister was supposed to be home from work already and watching her, but a half hour had passed and she was nowhere to be seen.

Leilah didn't get along with the other kids in sixth grade. She was reprimanded by the teachers for being too irritable, too blunt, too competitive, then for being too quiet.

She figured she didn't need to try, because nothing she did would work.

The fly buzzed out from behind a black banana. No, it was another fly. She spotted a few more crawling along the fruit.

The clock ticked slowly, taking its time on the way to the next hour.

Leilah knew where her sister was. She'd seen Penny with her boyfriend before, Leilah knew she was likely to skip babysitting to spend time with him. And afterward she'd give Leilah some cheap candy, as if that was any kind of a compensation.

But Leilah didn't make trouble about it. Having dad dole out punishments and mom freak out as if the world was ending would only make Penny hate Leilah.

Leilah fingered a hard lump right in the center of her ribs. It was a red diamond. Or probably not, it was probably some material that was all magical and nobody knew about or something. It had started growing there and given Leilah the power to become a magical girl a while back.

It was an escape from her life, sure. Perhaps a welcome one. The things the Gem squad did as magical girls seemed as far removed from reality as it got.

Leilah's head nodded and dropped into her arms, and she dozed off as the slow creep of time inched forward.