GG | ✔️

1. Carmine-red

The glow-in-the-dark stars twinkled at Una from the plastered-white ceiling.

Una winked back.

"Duo." She yawned. "What time is it?"

The words came out of her throat sounding like a tree-trunk being sawed in half.

A pair of mismatched eyes, one blue, one yellow, blinked at her.

"I'm still not healthy! Why, it's been seven days. And today, I swear, it's even worse than yesterday," Una complained. "There is a huge green ball of goo sitting in my chest, rolling through my windpipes... trying to come o—"

Una bent forward, her body shaking, her eyes closed, her hand pressed into her mouth.

Duo did the same, his tail swishing, his back arched.

Their foreheads touched.

Una won the imaginary who'll-stop-coughing-first race.

She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the shivering tomcat.

"It's them wicked hairballs again, innit?"

As soon as Una uttered that sentence, a giant rose petal coated in fur and spittle flew out of the kitten's mouth straight into her palm.

"Ew," she said.

"That's not very nice," Duo said.

Una yelped in wide-eyed surprise. She threw away the gross rose petal plastered to her palm and huddled back in the corner, staring at Duo.

The animal eyed her as if the talking was the most natural thing for any cat to do.

"What goes in, must come out. Sometimes, in most disagreeable ways, true. Vomit is proof of it. Ingest something and it will always return to haunt you."

"You... you can talk!" she whimpered, pointing at Duo.

"Ah, that. Slight inconvenience. It's the petal, I'm afraid." Duo burped. "It has made me chatty."

A noise came from the living room.

"10-year-old Paz Morales was last seen seven days ago. She left the school premises on foot by herself. Morales has shoulder-length black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing white jeans, a purple sweater, white trainers, and a pink school bag. Morales' mother declared her daughter wouldn't just disappear. She, Paz's father and her twin Una Morales, are praying for their child and sister's safe return. Anyone with information should contact the Police Department at 859-624-4776 or..."

Una's fingers dug deep into her ear canals.

"It's no use, you know? You can try to block the sound, but the temporary silence is a false absence of the sound. It doesn't mean that the sound isn't there."

Una lowered her hands.

"You're right."

Words like centipedes, scrabbling on their little isolated feet, reached Una from the kitchen.

"It's their birthday today..." She heard Dad say.

"I can't bring myself..." She heard Mom say.

"We always celebrate our birthday together." Una sniffed.

"There is still time. You can find Paz and bring her home."

"Me? What can I do?" said Una.

"Technically, you are older than Paz by five minutes."

"So?"

"It counts. Sometimes, it's the only thing that counts. One can do a lot in five minutes. Sing a pretty song. Eat a plate of taters with sausages. Or a juicy fish, slick and sweet. Those kinds of things." Duo's paw scratched his nape.