. . .
Gabriella Campbell - 10 years ago
"Do you think we will ever be happy?"
Leyla was nothing but a ghost beside me, laying on the grass in a beautiful white dress. She looked at me with wide, dark eyes, searching for comfort.
I looked down at my dirty jeans. "I don't know," I said, and then hesitated. Leyla was a dreamer, through and through. "I don't think I am the kind of person who gets happy endings."
"Why would you say that?" She gasped, sitting up. Both of us were talking quietly. We were not supposed to be in the garden in the middle of the night. But Leyla liked watching the night sky, and I needed her when the nightmares got bad.
"You're...like a fairy," I said. "You're the good girl who's in a bad place. I am just...bad."
"Just because you think you're bad doesn't mean you don't deserve good things, Gabby."
I smiled. That was such a Leyla thing to say. My sister's mind was filled with hope. Even after all the things our father did to her. "I'll get what I deserve."
"You will." She smiled. "Every wonderful thing in the world will be yours."
I laughed, shaking my head. "You turn crazy in the night."
She shrugged, tugging up the strap of her dress. I forced my eyes away from the marks on her shoulder. Don't ruin this moment with anger. "Look at that."
She motioned to the sky. I looked.
"What do you see?"
"Same old shit. Stars. Moon. Darkness."
"Now," she said quietly. "Think of what you can't see. Galaxies far away, planets - beautiful and deadly. Maybe even aliens. What you're looking at is endless. There are so many things we don't know, Gabby. So many possibilities."
My breath got caught in my chest.
And then I forced myself to breathe.
I stood and extended my hand towards her. "We should sleep."
She laid back down on the ground, eyes fixed on the sky. "Go. I'll sleep later."
I walked away, wondering what it felt like to be a dreamer watching the night sky.
. . .
Every chapter which follows this will be a full-length chapter.
Thoughts?
