The Sirens Tear

The summers spent at her grandparents cottage on the sea side were always Lilliannas favorite part of the year.

Even in the winter sitting in school she could taste the salt water in the air and feel the warm sand against her feet. She longed for May to come so her family could all pack into their van and drive the day long drive to the coast where they would spend the summer season away from the bustle of city life filled with noise and traffic.

Don't get it wrong Lillianna loved her city and her friends she'd made over the years in fact she considered her best friend Hannah as a sister, but to her nothing could compare to the beauty of the sun rising over the vast ocean and the stars that would reflect on the waves at night. The peace of hearing the waves crash and the bugs chirping all creating a night lullaby to lull her to sleep each night.

So as you can imagine the moment school let out for the last time that year Lillianna raced home to pack her bags and clean up before her parents got home from work and they would all pile into the van and start the long drive to her favorite place in the world.

After everyone was safely buckled in and the trip had begun Lillianna sat quietly and watched as the scenery raced by. Lillianna had the kind of imagination that would allow her to make up entire worlds in her head and that's just what she did on the long drive. She imagined dragons hiding in the caves they would pass. She could just see the prince riding up to the base of the cave and challenging the dragon to a dual for the princess that was locked away in the back of the cave covered with jewels and gold lining the floor of the beasts home.

Lillianna was in the middle of such a day dream so she didn't hear her little brothers voice calling to her until a pillow found its way to her face

"Lill listen to me!" Lillianna looked to her brother with a scowl on her face

"What?!"

"I'm hungry" the seven year old pouted and made puppy eyes that he knew Lillianna could never resist

"Ugh your such a pain!" Despite her harsh words there wasn't a thing in the world she wouldn't do for her little brother no matter how much he annoyed her, so with a sigh and an eye roll she began the search through the piles of bags that wouldn't fit into their trunk for food that would pacify the hangry growing boy.

"Here" Lillie tossed a box of goldfish to the boy and went back to staring out the window. She hoped that maybe she could pick up the story she was creating in her mind before she was so rudely interrupted but the crunching her brother made eating crackers in her ear kept her from focusing.

"Dillion! Must you chew so loud?"

"Well sorry! It's not my fault you gave me crackers to eat!!" Dillion stuck his tongue out at his sister and crunched even louder on the cracker in his mouth

"Ugh mom! Please tell him to be quite" Lillianna shoved her head to the front and looked at her mom with her eyes begging for peace and quite

"Dillion honey please chew quietly" their mom looked back and smiled at her baby boy "can I have some please?" Sticking her arm back she held out her hand palm up ready to be handed a handful of the cheesy crackers

"Here ya go mama" crackers fell to the floor as Dillion poured much to many of the fishes into his mother's hand

Lillianna sighed and looked back out the window and wished for the ride to be over so that she could be at the sea side already.