GOLDEN AGE | ON HIATUS

XXII | SASHA

[ 22 ]

THE LAST TIME that she'd seen her sister happy was far too long ago -- they'd been all but children, the day before the Americans came. Sasha sat on the gnarled bench outside the house, her feet tucked beneath her as she pulled her dark hair over one shoulder, combing through it with careful fingers. With a wince as they caught a snag, she grinned as a familiar figure took a seat next to her, a sunburn peeking out of the collar of Petra's t-shirt as the hem dipped.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the tree behind them, the rustle of the greenery alerting Sasha of the cat's presence above them. She wasn't bothered, but the thought of the animal falling onto her head wasn't one that she particularly wanted. Instead, she turned to her sister, tying her hair into a bun. Summer in their village was always unbearable, despite the icy winters that rocked the small island of their country.

"Where were you now?" Sasha asked, moving her legs out to stretch in front of her. Closing her eyes as the soles of her sandals dug into the dirt, she waited for Petra to respond.

Petra exhaled, the wind tousling her brown hair. As the sun caught the strands, Sasha caught golden waves amidst the warm sienna. "Just around. Babushka asked me to bring her some peaches, didn't she?" she raised her hand, indicating a plastic bag, sagging under the weight of a dozen or so of the rosy fruits.

"You planning on sharing it?" Sasha smiled, feigning innocence. "You know, just for a little bit of a snack before dinner. It's healthy."

With a laugh, Petra swatted her away. "Fine. But if she finds out, you know what's gonna happen." Holding out the bag, she let Sasha take one before tying the two handles into a knot. "No more, though. We need to keep some for Babushka, and you know that."

"I'm going inside. It needs to be washed," Sasha announced, her thumb trailing along the fuzz-covered skin as she stood up, her flip-flops skidding in the dry-packed earth. Turning through the gates and treading lightly onto the stone path that led to their small house, she adjusted the straps of her tank top, where a tan line had already settled, leaving a strip of near-white skin next to freckled light brown.

Pushing through the magnetic curtain in the open doorway, which closed with a click as soon as she stepped inside, she slid off her shoes and left them neatly by the door, along with a few more pairs of discarded sandals. A short corridor led to a cramped kitchen, with a pot bubbling on the stove and a humming fridge. Drops of water left the tap every few seconds as she stood there for a moment, trying to remember why she'd come inside.

A moment later, Sasha gripped the peach in her hand, watching mindlessly as water poured down its sides. She dried it off with a cloth, embroidered flowers quickly becoming soaked as they came into contact with the droplets still clinging to the skin of the peach.

She took a bite, finding that the familiar taste of the fruit comforted her. Its sweetness made her think of summers like this one, when she spent days doing nothing, helping her grandmother around the house and wandering around the village with her sister.

The peaches weren't good in Semper -- they tasted cheap and artificial, like they were trying to taste normal but they couldn't quite reach it. Sasha missed home; not the rooms in Crux, with their blue-painted walls and laminate floors, but real home, where the sun glared through the curtains and the sweltering heat of summer loved to press against the windows.

[-]

Sasha lifted her head, meeting Narcissa's widened eyes for the briefest moment as she spoke to a rugged-looking man, evidently trying to distract him before he noticed her. By looks, she would've pegged him as Usnayan, but even from far away she could tell that he was speaking English, stopping every so often to take a gulp of his beer, foam frothing at the corners of his mouth. Sasha knew that she needed to get away. Biting her lip, she jumped as a white hand closed around her wrist, going into dark sleeves and a young woman's face.