The Divine Zero

Chapter 5: St. Clairaudience

clairaudience

[klair-aw-dee-uh ns]

noun;

1. The power to hear sounds said to exist beyond the reach of ordinary experience or capacity, as the voices of the dead.

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I laid sprawled out on my queen sized mattress, my body sinking into the bed heavily; me being drowned by the quilt I used as a comforter. The light lilac walls that formed my bedroom seemed to be closing in on me, despite how distanced they were from eachother. The framed faces on my walls relentlessly eyed me; how strange it is to be surrounded by faces of those you aren't around anymore.

When I had first moved here, I had decorated my new large bedroom with the few pictures I had left of my mother, the ones that reminded of the family and the life that I had before; the ones my dad neglected to take away from me once he had found out I had taken them.

When we moved we only brought our mattresses, most of our clothes, kitchen things, and also bathroom stuff. Like towels. Dad had just made the excuse that we didn't have enough room for the pictures, or anything else that had been mom's.

Glad to know our bathroom towels are more important than saving the memories of mom, Dad.

When Katherine and Stephanie had first visited my house and saw the different sized picture frames resting against the wall on the far side of my room, they had went and investigated with curiousity; lifting the frames off the floor and flipping them around to see what the frames held.

I had nervously stood back by the front of my bed, unsure of what they'd say.

Or how I'd reply.

"Who's this?" Katherine questioned, her voice soft. She held the picture frame in her small hands delicately, yet that didn't keep me from worrying that she'd break it somehow, or ruin it.

Stephanie held my favorite picture of my mother, the one I had admired since I was a child.

The one where she had been running down the beach; a beach in Florida that she had went to with my dad as a honeymoon trip. The place she had always promised to take me someday.

She was around twenty yearsold in the picture, blonde wavy hair crazily flying in the wind and her swimsuit cover doing the same, not that she cared at all. That's what made the picture peaceful; the tanquility. It was as if she was chasing the sunset that lined the ocean that evening, it was beautiful. The colors were so vividly red and orange, you could actually feel the warmth of the picture just by looking at it. It was like I were there, too. Right behind her, chasing her through the sand.

At the perfect moment, my mom had turned her head to look back at my father who held the camera, a genuinely happy smile on her face, midlaugh.

It was the most beautiful moment captured of my mother. This is how I would forever remember her.

"She's really pretty, who is she?" Stephanie asked in a sweet voice, repeating Katherine's question. Her glancing back to me as she still held the picture within her grasp.

I had bitten my lip, forcing myself to be strong.

"This is the first step to feeling better," I convinced myself in my head.

I stepped forward to close the distance with them and forced a smile on my face. "She's my aunt, I don't see her much anymore," I added quickly after a pause, "She still lives in California." Trying to keep my voice easy even though it shook heavily.

Katherine and Stephanie then shared a look of- doubt? Then Katherine just nodded and smiled and set the frame back down on the floor, carefully leaning it back against the wall. The picture facing the wall like it had been before.