Sunshine and Lilly

Chapter Eight: Flasbacks (Alias' POV)

Alias' Point of View
Flashback - Alias (10) Lilly (6)

"Tell your madre gracias Al, I've been looking everywhere for my thermometers but I can't find them," I hand Ma Maria the first aid kit that I more that happily jumped to bring next door for two reasons.

Reason # 1 is that I know I don't need excuses to visit, Ma Maria tells me I'm welcome all the time but Papa was asking me to come sit with him and look over some of his contracts and I couldn't think of anything to get me out of the hours of legal terms and "old case precedents" he'd throw at me in hopes of getting me used to the specialty from now.

When Mom asked me to bring something over here, it was like she'd heard my inner rant about making up an excuse or escaping through my bedroom window to go play with Lilly  and screams for help.

The other reason (#2) and most important is playing in the garden in the front yard with Bessy.

"Ahhh" I hear her yelp and then giggle.

My best friend, Sunshine.

Ma Marie shakes her head with a light chuckle at her daughter's squeal and we both walk out to the front steps to see Lilly laughing hysterically at Bessy's pecking head and following dance, trying to pick the daisies off of Sunshine's sandals.

"Alias! Come play with me and Bessy, she's being so silly!" she giggles and I grin before nodding my head and making my way down the steps towards the front garden.

"Marie!" I turn my head to my mother's voice, "did you need anything else, is it the flu?" she leans over the fence and I see Ma Marie and her carry on their conversation as I walk towards Bessy but I don't see Sunshine anywhere...

"Sunny?" I look around for a head of auburn pigtails and a smile of missing front teeth but come up short. "Sunshine?" I walk about looking around the front yard, with Bessy right on my tail, "Sunshine?" I walk past a bush of roses and stop immediately when I hear a giggle. A breath of relief escapes me and the frown I didn't realize took over my face was replaced with a small smile. "Hmm, Bessy, do you know where Sunny is?" I look down at the clucking animal and then hear a sudden bark of laughter from the bushes. I know she's trying to keep quiet but can't contain herself. "I don't know Bessy, she was here just now.... maybe she left? Maybe she turned into a cloud and floated away," I wonder aloud.
"Well Bessy, let's you and I go get ice cream, it's too bad Sunny won't get any... and it's chocolate chip too," I sigh out wistfully and count 1.2.3-

"Wait! I'm wight here Ally!" Sunshine jumps out from the bushes and giggles a truckload before tackling me onto the grass. "I've been there all the time. I'm not a cloud Ally," she shakes her head. "That's so silly, I wouldn't leave you," she looks at me as though what I've said is completely redonkulous.

"You're right Sunny, if you became a cloud, I would have to become a cloud too, right?" I ask her and we both lay side by side in the grass to look up at the midday sky and the clouds of all shapes floating away above us.

"That's wight Ally, but I- I don't think I want to be a c-cloud Ally," she turns her head to look at me with a grin. "We would be starws! Pwetty spwarkling s-s-stars," she declares and I think about it. Stars.

"I learned about the Solar System in class," I tell her about the different planets and the Milkyway and even though Mom told me that Lilly may not understand the things we talk about, I don't think that's true, Sunny always listens intently and asks questions. I think she understands more than the adults think.
"The sun is the middle of all the planets and its also a star," Sunny looks at me with wide eyes and gasp.

"Weally?" she asks and I nod. "Wooow," she looks up at the sky and squints at the sun that shines through behind a cloud that Sunny pointed out looks like "bunny earws."