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"Only in the Darkness can you see the stars." -Martin Luther King Jr
It was a quiet afternoon. The wind blew silently down the street that stretched on for miles and clouds drifted lazily across the sky. It was a picture-perfect summer for the two girls that played along the street. The two girls - no older than 5 years old - galavanted throughout their make-believe world.
The young children sat side by side on the concrete steps leading to one of the many grey apartment buildings that lined the street. Their brown hair shifted in the wind and their bright brown eyes gazed at the dull world they had come to love. They didn't see the poverty that they were born into or the people who passed and looked at them with pity. Their eyes only saw the wonder of the world that they had come to love.
Aiyana and Akanda had lived with their mother and the elaborate story that their father was off on a spy mission since they were mere babes. They attended school during the fall and learned of the world that their ancestors had turned grey; just like all of the other children who lived on Earth.
Years passed and, as both girls grew taller, they grew apart. Both of their futures held great achievements and wonder, but their paths had split long before secondary school. Their plans were solid; Aiyana would join the military and Akanda would go off to a major science academy.
Two different paths, two different people.
No one was surprised when Aiyana joined the military as soon as she received her high school diploma. No one was surprised when Akanda joined a science program when she graduated from college at the age of 18. The two were doing exactly what the world thought they would.
Everything was perfectly simple. It was as though their childhood dreams had come to life right in front of their eyes. Aiyana protected her country and her sister built a program that would take her to another planet. It was as it was supposed to be.
But accidents happen; especially when they aren't supposed to. It was after an accident that Aiyana was honorably discharged. And it was after an accident that Akanda lost her life to an ambush in a grocery store.
Fate had stepped into Aiyana's life and sent her flying through a world that she no longer felt attached to.
"Ma'am," the man standing in front of me shifted nervously on his feet, "We're, uhm, very sorry to say, but your sister was involved in an accident," he paused, obviously not used to delivering this kind of information.
"My sister?" I hadn't seen my sister in three months. "Akanda? What happened?" Worry laced my voice and fear coursed through my body. I didn't want to think the worst, but there was a little part of me that knew what was coming. When men in black suits appeared at my doorsteps, there was not much else that came to mind.
