ODE TO THE END: A BALLAD OF BROTHERS

CHAPTER 11

NAOMI

Naomi returned to the Caitlyn castle and found that the perpetual vacancy persisted. She opened the door to halls of silent haunt, but the sun-kissed girl waded through the darkness with a glowing excitement. She whisked through her bedtime rituals and flung herself beneath her blankets. She snuggled just right, and closed her eyes until she fell into a slumber.

Naomi slept, but she found no rest. The jitters would not allow it. Her dreams were projections of colorful adventures and the pleasures therein were sweetened by years of craving. She slept with a smile and awoke with one as well.

When Naomi awoke, she turned to her window only to find that night oozed through the glass. It was still dark, but Naomi refused to give up her enthusiasm. She snatched her phone, tapped the surface, rubbed her eyes before the blue glow of the screen, and blinked upon the hour.

"5:47am," she said.

It was an ungodly time fit only for sleep, but the fluttering things in her tummy offered little to facilitate such pause. Instead, Naomi pulled the levy on her lamp and readied herself for a grand excursion once relegated to a world beyond her reality.

The warm yellows exuding from her lamp left her room with a perfect balance of light and shadow. With her frizzy hair flying behind her like ribbon fire, the winds blew at Naomi's back as she prepared for their reunion. She showered just for the occasion, but the speed of her cleaning was almost criminal. Her freckled bottom wasn't even dried when she leaped out of the bathroom. In fact, the sun-kissed girl forgot to turn off the water.

Naomi brushed her teeth, but she took the toothpaste and brush out of the restroom as she did so. Why waste the time in front of a mirror when she could multitask? Of course, it was only after Naomi believed herself done with the brushing when she realized she had neglected to glaze the bristles with toothpaste. With blush appearing on her face, Naomi took up the task again. Her clothes had already been chosen anyways, so what else was there to do? 

Once the dental work was done, Naomi grabbed the hairbrush on her dresser and set it upon her mane. Her fiery hair was weakened by the showery soak, but her curls were expanding by the second. In the end, no meaningful stroke met the girl's hair, but Naomi felt that she was ready regardless.

She snatched her chosen attire off of her bed, and looked to her window while spinning into her outfit. When Naomi finally popped her frizzy hair through the head hole, she saw that the lightless night had given way to a dull glow of blue. She smiled before dressing herself further.

"Not much longer now," she stated. But how much longer was it exactly? After throwing on her backpack, Naomi turned to the clock on her dresser for the answer.  "6:03?!"

She had just pulled up her knee-high socks, effectively ending her morning preparation. With nothing left to do, Naomi slumped on to the messy floor and rolled around the filth of her room.

"I can't go now," she cried. "That's too early! He's probably asleep and I'll have to wake him, and then..."  And then. And then.

The sun-kissed girl tallied off all the reasons why her meeting Achim this early posed all sorts of issues. Some bordered on the reasonable, some crossed the line, but every thought, extravagant and not, caused her heart to race. She spent more time blushing along the ground than she did in the shower, but, in time, Naomi found her center. She slapped both of her freckled cheeks, effectively snapping herself out of her stupor, and jumped to her feet with a fist in the air.  

"No more Naomi," said the girl to herself. "You may be nervous, but that's okay because you're also brave!"

Courage was conjured with that little speech and Naomi was finally able to march to her door, but not before taking one last look at her clock. She saw the early time, took a second to breathe, opened the door, and stepped out before going right back into her room.