seraphic [h.s]

chapter one.

Flashes of colour swirled their way through the darkness of my closed eyes. I tuned into the distinct breeze circling around me, though with it being summer, the air was warm. There was no crisp of coolness in the breeze that fled, no refreshing reminder that the hot air was all worth it.

No, I'd decided to close my eyes to push away the thought of how hot it truly was, how my skin created a layer of shine that complimented me in no way whatsoever. If I thought really hard about it, I would be able to notice the specks of grass tickling my skin from underneath me. Though for my own sanity, that thought fled without a second to return.

I didn't have to peak an eye open to know that the street opposite me was empty, the houses across the road were mute especially on days like this, until night swept over of course. My bent knees sat leaning against one another, my arms sprawled along the lawn with my face under the direct sun. I suppose the excessive amount of sunscreen I'd lathered myself with prior didn't help my predicament now, I was a slick mess.

My mothers sun hat lay covering my face, it had been the only thing in sight as I'd rushed out of the front door and chosen my destination to collapse. It was only a moment I'd needed, just a few minutes of silence without being flustered with the numerous chores my mother bounced towards me. I knew she wanted the house looking annoyingly nice, though she seemed to forget that there wasn't a day where anything in the house looked out of place to begin with.

"Cmon Mabel, get out of the sun and come help your mother and I before she continues to have a fit."

Within an instant, a groan coursed through me, loud enough for me to know it should have been quieter. "Dad please, I've been helping her all morning." I gripped the sun hat and tore it away from my face, coming up to lean on my elbows to look back at my father who was leaning against the open front door. His particularly dark brown eyes that matched my own peered right through me, so much so that I knew the conversation was over.

I pushed myself up from the grass in a huff, dusting off my arms knowing that a few specks of green would have been there. I let my reebok pumps lead the way inside, glaring at my laughing father as I passed him. The air conditioned living room made me come to a halt, letting the coolness finally settle onto my skin and soak the moisture away. Outside had seemed the better option before, even though it may have taken the hydration right out of me.

"Mabel, honey, could you make sure your room is spotless and that the spare one is ready?" My mother's voice sang from the kitchen, the open walls allowed me to watch her as she squeezed the half of a lemon into a frosty jug. "I did that when you asked me an hour ago. It's just Evie, she used to live here too, she won't care one bit." I reasoned with her, spinning on my feet while I plonked myself down onto the armchair beside the small television.

It were true, I knew it wouldn't have even crossed Evie's mind. I was convinced that my parents just loved to spoil her because she was the older child and she was off being her successful self. It was more often than not that my parents loved to remind me she had left the house by the ripe age of twenty two. Which of course was impressive, I would give her that, though I could barely juggle the mishaps of my own life and realistically, the thought of having my life together and moving out in two years just didn't sit comfortably with me.

So in my mind, that was okay. I planned to stay here as long as I'd liked because I knew my current unfulfilling life would not be successful to me any time soon.

"What won't I care about?"

The rasp to her voice hadn't changed, it still made her sound so mysterious and she hated when I used to make fun of her for it. I leapt up from the cushioned chair beneath me, only needing to jog a few steps until reaching her. Immediately enveloping her warm skin into a tight embrace, "Still so good with timing you are." I chuckled into her ear as she continued to squeeze me just as hard as I was her.