The Secret World of Maya Alexander

Chapter 8

Stephen left for work early the next day to make up for the time he had lost the day before. He had marked the end of dressing in the same way he always did. Eyes shifted and foot tapped. 06.03. 06.03 06.03. He had time to lay out some clothes on the chair in the bedroom for Maya. He hoped that seeing her clothes there might encourage her to get up and dressed.

She seemed so still in her sleep. The vision soothed him, even though this stillness was quite unusual for her. Stephen left the curtains closed. Dawn was beginning to break outside. He recalled how Maya always seemed much brighter in March as the mornings became lighter and nature's hibernation came to an end. Yet still he left the curtains closed.

He locked the door and pulled the handle three times to check it was secure before leaving the house. His watch told him it was 06.18. 06.18. 06.18, as he checked it three times and his foot complied with its usual tapping ritual. Pulling out of the drive, he glanced up at the stillness of the house. He had missed Maya's company as he drank his early morning coffee alone at the kitchen table. The only sound was the ticking of the clocks in the hall and in the kitchen. They seemed to have lost their usual synchrony and served only to irritate the lonely man.

Maya did not bother to look at the time when Alice came into her room to wake her. Jackie had suggested leaving Maya to sleep, but it was mid-morning now and Alice thought that opening the curtains and window might offer her sister some encouragement with waking.

She knocked quietly on the door and paused before entering. That was just good manners after all, and the polite thing to do. Alice's eyes studied Maya's still form beneath the blanket. She was laid on her back which somehow seemed unusual. Alice searched her mind for old memories of Maya sleeping. She looked back upon a time when she used to creep into her sister's room as a child and sneak beside her in bed. None of those memories connected to the vision currently cast before her.

Alice pulled open the thick lined purple velvet curtains. The room quickly arose out of its gloom as the light from outside darted in. 'Maya I am just opening the curtains and window,' Alice explained softly, realising she probably should have warned her sister before allowing the invasion of light to extinguish the black of her sister's slumber.

Maya's eyes embraced the warmth of the light upon her eyelids. She responded to its touch by trying to lift her lids open and relieve herself from the shadows of her dreams. The light burned her retina. She held her eyelids closed a little longer. Taking a moment to feel the warmth of the sun's rays on her face and skin, she tried hard to imagine the light. Orange and white flashes ran in front of the darkness. As Alice released the locked window, fresh air rushed and flooded Maya's airways. She breathed and her body began to awaken from its stillness. A familiar song floated into her ears from the blackbird's nest outside. Maya opened her eyes so that she could see its sound.

Alice smiled to herself and then towards her sister.

Maya took in deep breaths. Her eyes were wide. They farted out of the window to drink up nature's gifts.

Alice moved to her sister's side. 'I know you might not feel like talking right now...' she offered nervously, aware of her sister's far superior knowledge and skills when it came to emotional support, 'but I am here and I want to listen when you need it'. She became braver, as she added, 'and Maya, you know it will help you get better if you can get up and back into a routine don't you..?'

Maya could not help but look up at her sister and roll her eyes. This advice would be all well and good if someone were ready to hear it, but right now Maya preferred torturous silence to words that might mean she had to think about and process her feelings. What was her little sister thinking? Couldn't she see that opening the window and allowing the birds to awaken her was enough? Did she have to come to her side with condescending words. Words which Maya was already acutely aware of thank you very much. What qualified Alice to give advice? A counselling diploma she had done in college?