Happy Birthday :D

2020

Title: Still Here
Description: Quiet singing at 5 in the morning during a thunderstorm.

~♡~

Musing through memories
Losing my grip in the grey

She sings softly into the darkness for her younger sister, still awake despite the time to stay up with her.

Numbing the senses
I feel you slipping away

She choked a bit; she never could say what she wanted to even if the truth would benefit everyone. She doesn't understand why. At the very least, she is aware of her shortcomings.

Love turns to ashes
With all that I wish I could say

She looks down at her sister, blurry without her glasses. Her hand reaches down to hold onto the other's, but she pats the stuffed animal instead. Her sister laughs childishly and moves her plush toy around to allow for more petting.

I'd die to be where you are
I tried to be where you are

At this point, her voice rises a bit in volume yet still quiet due to the late hour.

Every night, I dream you're still here
The ghost by my side, so perfectly clear
When I awake, you'll disappear
Back to the shadows with all I hold dear
With all I hold dear
I dream you're still here
I dream you're still here

She sings with sincerity, remembering all the people she had lost. No matter how many times she tells her younger sister "I love you," those words hold the same heavy weight as the first time she's ever said them. Her sister is the only one she trusts even though she still finds it hard to share her true self.

Make me a promise that time won't erase us
That we were not lost from the start

I'd die to be where you are
I tried to be where you are

She sings the chorus again, matching the same repressed and subtle desperation in the singer's voice. She envisions a sad siren lulling sailors with their melancholic and alluring melodies.

Ever slightly out of reach
I dream you're still here
But it breaks so easily
I try to protect you
I can't let you fade
I feel you slipping
I feel you slipping away

Her sister lifts her hand to hold onto hers, a gesture the younger girl normally dislikes. She holds onto her hand, appreciating every second that her sister was affectionate. She feels the emotions more intensely⁠—another trait that the two differed in.

Every night, I dream you're still here
The ghost by my side, so perfectly clear
When I awake, you'll disappear
Back to the shadows
With all I hold dear
With all I hold dear

Her voice fades until it's a mere whisper towards the end of the song, where the lyrics repeated. She pulls her hand away and pets the soft toy again, rubbing its head as if it were an actual animal. Her sister hugs the plush tightly for a couple seconds, smiling.

Every night, I dream you're still here
But it breaks so easily

The song ends and her younger sister claps and cheers her on quietly. They jokingly counter the other with aggressive-sounding compliments. Lightning flashes near their window and both jump.

"I hate lightning.." She complains, and her younger sister chuckles at her irrational fear. Another song begins to fade in from her Spotify playlist and the two listened in a comfortable silence.

~♡~

A/N: Welcome once again to the end of the second entry in this birthday collection! I genuinely did not know what to write until this very early morning/late night when we were listening to music and singing. It was really nice and I loved it uwu. This chapter was written in a different writing style than I was used to (long paragraphs) so special thanks to Shepic01 for proofreading and telling me that this short is well done. (P.S. it's his girlfriend's and brother's birthday too!) I hope y'all have a happy birthday.

(This chapter has 666 words)