The Touched

Chapter 1

Darkness began to overtake her little by little, choking out the light. Try as she might, she could not call out for help. Her mind began to swirl as the light flickered and finally faded away. Wind whipped her face violently, indicating that she was falling helplessly through the darkness. Her survival instincts kicked in as she flailed, hoping to grab on to something, anything to save her life.

The sound of breaking glass jolted her awake with a start. Breathing fast and heavily, she attempted to calm down.

"It was just a dream..." She huffed.

Running her fingers through her damp hair, she looked to see what damage she caused this time. 

"Aww, man. Really?" She sighed as she looked at the broken vase and scattered flowers. 

Carefully, she bent over, sweeping away glass shards as she gathered up the flowers.

"Ava, what happened?" her sister called from down the hall.

"Nothing, Sis. I just knocked over my flowers and broke the vase."

A hearty laugh echoed in response, "You klutz!"

"Yeah, keep laughing, Cassie!"

Shaking her head, she picked up the final flower and headed downstairs. Searching the kitchen for a spare vase proved difficult as Ava scoured every cabinet vigorously. Sighing, she grabbed her favorite coffee mug, filled it with water, and placed the flowers haphazardly in the makeshift "vase".

Footsteps lightly trailed down the stairs as her sister, Cassie, made her way into the Kitchen.

"Rough night, Sis?" she choked back a laugh.

"Not funny, Cas," Ava playfully warned.

"Okay, I'm sorry. But that was the third vase you've broken this week."

"Whatever... It has not been three vases," Ava rolled her eyes.

"The trash can begs to differ," Cassie added as she proceeded to pour a cup of coffee.

After a brief moment of silence, Cassie turned to face Ava. 

"Are you sure you're okay? You're not too stressed about the business trip are you?"

Scratching her head, Ava replied, "Not really. I might be a bit nervous, I guess. But that's normal."

Cassie sighed, "I know you are going for business, but try to have some fun on the trip. You've been stressing a lot lately and don't try to argue. Because I know you like to hide it when you get stressed."

Giving in, Ava nodded, "Okay, you're right. I'll try to relax."

Smiling, Cassie gave her a quick hug, "Thank you. Now hurry up, you still have to get ready for work!"

"Alright, I'm going. Don't fret over me so much!" Ava chuckled.

"What can I say? It's my job as the older sister," Cassie shouted as Ava made her way back upstairs.

***