Ships in the Night

vera

i. the lilies

8:54 am

     Her humming was the only sound in the room. It was a sound that played like something from The Smiths.

     In six minutes the alarm will make its buzzing noise. In six minutes Vera will have to dress herself for the day. She would have to see her father, which for a daughter that infamously resembled more of her mother than her father, was not the best thing.

     The last thing Vera wanted was for him to be reminded.

8:59 am

     One minute before the alarm will ring and Vera had her hand hovering over the button.

9:00 am

     Soundlessly, Vera stood up and dressed herself. She walked to the kitchen to meet her father holding a newspaper to his eyes.

     She took the milk carton from the refrigerator and the cereal box in cupboard and made her breakfast.

     She sat in front of him and ate very quietly. She let her thoughts consume her.

A memory:

     Vera held the hand her mother. She lifted her over her shoulder. "She's so beautiful, isn't she?" Vera played with a strand of her light-brown hair. "Can I hold her, sweetie?" Vera stretched her hands out, reaching out for her mother. But in the end she was in her father's hands. He looked at her mother and then at her. He was smiling.

     "At noon, we're going to go to the cemetery."

     Vera already knew which led her to believe that he was talking to himself.

     He dropped the newspaper when Vera stood up and cleaned her plate and left to her room.

     She opened to a new page of her notebook. She took a pencil and waited.

     There was an empty bird's nest that sat on the tree right outside Vera's window. Vera never saw the birds that lived there and because of that she was left to imagine and dream about what could have been there.

     For a few seconds, she waited before a sigh came and she looked at her room and painted.

      She began with the ceiling fan and tiles. She made out her tv and stereo. She did her bed and her small library. She finished with the mess that surrounded every part of room.

     By the time she finished the drawing and looked at her others, it was noon.

12:30 pm

     The only thing different was the jewelry and makeup that was added and small scent of vanilla on her brown skin.

     Her father locked the car's doors and they walked.

     She was careful. Vera didn't want to step on any graves. She hated the feeling on standing over somebody.

     This wasn't for her mother like her father said. This wasn't for Vera, either. It for her father.

     She tried to distance herself from the two. But she did see him cry; it was a rare thing. He mumbled a lot of things Vera couldn't hear. He closed his eyes before wiping his tears, placing his sunglasses back and heading back into the car.

1:00 pm

     Vera stood in front of her mother. She mouthed what it said on the grave. "Cynthia Lilly Cruz-Roberts; beloved mother and wife."

     A tear left her eye. Not of the pain it caused her to lose something she loved but from the pain that she never quite knew her.

     Vera grasped the lilies tight in her hand. She never knew what her mother's favorite flower was so she figured she'd get the flower that was in her name.

     Reaching out her hand, she dropped the lilies on the dirt.

It's short but at least I did something. :D This was actually very easy to write mostly because I'm writing it as I go. I just wished I could write like this for Colin Dane...

Anyways,  I hope you liked it. And if you extra loved it, please vote and leave a comment!

with love, anna ♥