Lux
The world swirled around her, blue blurring with white, as the ropes untangled and she came to a sudden stop. Digging her toes into the red clay, she spun the other way. The ropes met once again, the frayed edges wrapping around each other like long-lost lovers, until the braid reached her fingers. Lifting her feet, she let go, head hanging back and arms going slack until the rotations ended.
"How are you not throwing up?" Bella asked.
Lux pulled herself upright and tried to blink away the dizziness. "That's why I spin in both directions."
"What's wrong with going back and forth? That's what a swing is for."
Lux looked at her mother then, noting how tired she sounded. She was sitting on the bottom step of their back porch, her hair pulled back in a sloppy knot. It was a rare occasion to see Bella so casual, but it was these moments when she didn't try to be perfect that Lux connected to her.
"It's capable of more than that. Back and forth doesn't make my heart race and my head feel light." Lux paused. "You okay Mama?"
Mama scrubbed her face with both hands before releasing a ragged breath. "Your grandmother just can't leave well enough alone."
Memaw and Declan had left the night before, her mother unwilling to let them spend the night after spending over an hour sequestered and yelling at one another. Lux chatted with Declan, but the tension seeping from the other room was palpable and stalled the natural flow of conversation. It didn't help that he sent her hormones into overdrive or every time silence stretched between them she remembered he had seen her almost naked. Either way, she'd been torn between sadness and relief when he left.
She wasn't worried about her grandmother. This wasn't the first fight between her mother and grandmother, and it wouldn't be the last. Memaw would contact Lux, having assured her before leaving that she was sticking around this summer.
Lux picked at a piece of lint on her shorts as she considered her next words. Mama's ire was directed at her own mother right now, but Lux had a way of drawing it to herself. It was part of the reason she hadn't told her about the incident in the shower. Mama would have her in the emergency room before Lux finished telling the story.
"I don't understand why you two argue so much. She wasn't perfect, but she loved you. Shouldn't that be enough?"
"Lux. It's so much more than that."
"Tell me. Help me understand."
She stood and stretched. "Maybe one day, baby."
"You always say that. I'm almost seventeen. When is one day?"
A dark shadow passed through Mama's eyes. "That's right. Your birthday is next week. Have you thought about what you want to do?"
Lux shrugged, her excitement about her birthday dimmed by her mother's deflection. Her refusal shouldn't surprise her. Neither Mama nor Memaw had ever indulged that question.
"Nothing big. Everyone is usually gone for the summer. Maybe a shopping spree?"
Mama smiled, and it almost reached her eyes. "That would be fun. Don't stay out here too long. You'll be eat up with bugs."
She went back inside and left Lux alone. Alone with her thoughts that too often strayed to images of monsters and drowning, and alone with a feeling that something strange and terrible was coming for them all.
***********************************
The next ten days went by faster than Lux expected, but her summer job helped to pass the time and allowed her to catch up on the reading list for her AP English class in the fall. Hours could pass without a customer at the small drive thru coffee shop she worked at, only picking up at happy hour when frappes were two for one.
YOU ARE READING
The Opal Witch
Fantasy[Completed] Lux's senior year of high school had been carefully mapped out since her freshman year. Snag the lead in the school play, chalk up a few more volunteer hours, and ace her AP English class. Maybe even get her first kiss out of the way bef...
