beyond the monotonous city

fourty nine

It hit Lauren that her time had come to an end as she was packing the stuff she owned in boxes.

She wanted to pack a lot but it surprised her how little she did pack, only the basic essentials. She didn't want to bring in too much as she wanted a fresh start and most of her old stuff reminded her too much of her past. She did pick one or two of her favorite vinyl's but rather as memorabilia than as a source of music.

Her siblings had come home at that time and she felt for the first time in almost ten years what it felt like to have her whole family with her. Taylor clicked instantly with Mike as she was the one who longed for him the most. Chris was a bit iffy at first but he got along fast with Mike as they had a lot in common. Lauren hadn't seen her mother that happy in a long time and she was glad that although she was leaving, she wouldn't be leaving her mother alone too. She was going to have a second shot as well and a fresh start.

A few days before she was leaving, she realized she completely forgot about the paintings. She opened the guest room door and saw them all scattered on the bed, some on the floor, collecting dust.

She decided whether she should call up Shaun about them but part of her wanted something else.

She ended up getting an empty box and placing them all in there. Surprisingly, they all fit in one box and she carried them all the way downstairs.

Chris and her dad were playing on the Xbox and Lauren shook her head at how rowdy they were over a video game. But she was smiling, as it was a sight she never thought would see again.

She made her way across the street towards the house that was as happy as the person who used to live there. She rang the doorbell, struggling a bit with the weight of the box.

Sinu answered with that smile of hers, wearing an apron. "Lauren! Good to see you here! Come in!"

Lauren smiled back as she proceeded inside, setting the box down when she got to the living room.

"What brings you here?" She asked as she hung up her apron and shut off the stove.

"I actually wanted to show you something." She sat down on the couch and brought out the paintings, one by one until Sinu saw them.

"My, these paintings are beautiful." She commented, grabbing one. It was the first she painted, it was the night sky from the time they went hiking. "Anyone would be lucky to have these."

Lauren sadly nodded. "They're for Camila actually."

Sinu stopped, tilted her head to the side in question. The mannerism was so much like Camila that that alone was close to making Lauren choke up.

"I painted these for her." Lauren said, picking up the nearest one. It was more abstract but it represented the time she swam with dolphins, with the shades of blue and gray.

Sinu was speechless as she looked through all of them. "Lauren, these must have taken hours-"

"I planned to make a gallery and put it all in there. As a gift to Camila. But I was too late." She said as her voice grew softer, trailing off.

Sinu looked at her, smiling sadly. "Why would you make this all for her, Lauren?"

Lauren felt the question press on her. It still hurt to admit and to reap the consequences that came with it. "Because I liked her. I didn't know how to tell her but I thought maybe I could show her." The emphasis with the word 'liked' made Lauren washed with guilt.

Sinu couldn't look at her but instead, picked up another painting. It was of the fields of daisies she painted, based off the same photo Camila was in on her bucket list. Sinu traced the strokes Lauren made carefully and Lauren couldn't help but just watch.