Needledrop

3

Rules

Wynnona

After hours of working I check the time on my phone. 12:00 am it reads. I stand up and grab a bottle of whiskey from the pantry over the fridge. Screwing the top off I take a large swig.

"That's illegal." Sean tells me. I raise the phone screen to him just as a reminder pops up. The message reads 'Happy Abandonment day to me!'

"Not if I turn 20 today." I tell him with a shrug.

"Why does it say 'abandonment?'" He asks.

"I never knew what day I was born, and I never knew my parents. Brett's parents found me and called today my birthday." I monotone, taking another swig from the bottle. For some strange reason I feel the need to tell him, inform him of my life up to this point because I trust him for some unknown reason.

"You never knew your real parents?" He asks, pity in his voice. I notice he's started fiddling with a ring around his neck. It has a slim gold band with a small stone on the centre.

"No. They likely took one look at me and dumped me." I shrug. "What's the ring for?" I ask, thankful for a distraction from the journal.

"It's becoming a nervous thing I do." He sighs. Dropping the ring he leaves it to dangle around his neck. "It belonged to my grandmother. She was the only motherly figure I had." He tells me, his eyes clouding over.

"Tell me about that nurse of yours." I lean back in my chair, watching his face. "He looks flexible." Sean's face lights up bright red as my words register. I let out a fit of laughter at the look on his face.

"His name is Jake." He says, a smile on his face. "He's an adorable idiot. I've known him all my life. The rings for him, I just haven't found the right time."

"There is no right time." I tell him, not looking at him while taking another swig of my drink. "You have to make your own perfect moment."

"And how would you know that?" He shoots back, unconvinced look on his face.

"I have a torturous mind." I tell him, a fake smile on my face. "It enjoys showing me the life I want, but know I'll never have." I shrug and put the lid back on the whiskey, a quarter of the bottle gone. I can feel a slight buzz from the alcohol, but not much.

"I'm sure there is someone out there who'd give you that life." He tells me. "The universe is bigger than we think it is."

"You say that as if you know it is." I point out. He smirks at me, a smirk I recognize.

"Maybe I do." He tells me, humour in his voice, but also mystery. I shrug it off turning my attention back to my notes and the journal. After about another hour I pass out from exhaustion.

I hear a crash that causes me to snap up in bed. There is a boy laying in the bed beside me. He looks to be maybe eight. Shaggy black hair that falls into his eyes and pale skin. He sleeps peacefully. I look down at myself and see myself in my normal self. The cuffs of my old leather jacket. The skinny jeans I tossed on this morning. My strange colourful socks that are always mismatched. One is pale blue with cute foxes the other pink with watermelons.

My body moves towards the sound of the crash without my say so. I get to the door and without thinking, reach for a small button beside the door. The door slides open and I walk out, turning right to head forwards.

I get to the door and peek in, looking out the large span of windows to see nothing but space. Real space. Different stars flicker in the distance, speckling the swirling nebula around the ship with different, interesting planets in the distance.