metanoia
[english | greek orgin]
(n.)
the journey of changing one's mind, heart, self, or way of life.
we were just children
young, foolish, full of life.
hearts wide open and eyes bright
with the knowledge that we had nothing to...
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Eleanor Rhee was waiting for her older brother to come home from his job, Joe's Hideout, as she threw chips in her mouth, the salty taste making her mouth water. She was flipping through T.V. channels as the home phone went off. A groan left the girl's mouth as she reluctantly got up to go search for it. She found it laying on the kitchen island and without checking the caller I.D., she answered.
"Hello?"
"Elle, baby, is Glenn back yet?"
"No, why? Is everything okay, Es?"
Esme cleared her throat before responding. She obviously didn't know how to tell Eleanor about what was happening.
"Listen to me, Elle. I want you to lock the door and close the blinds. Don't open up for anyone, do you understand?"
She pulled the popsicle she was sucking on out of her mouth, making a popping noise. Her eyebrows furrowed as she bit her lip.
"Esme, are you feeling okay? How long have you slept? Did you even sle-"
"Just listen to me, Eleanor Grace! Your brother has the key to the house. He'll unlock the door. Just don't open it. No matter what you hear, okay? I want you to go pack your bags, okay? Pack it full of clothes and photo albums. You'll need those. Glenn will pack the rest."
"Tía... Let me talk to Charlie."
Panic began to sink its teeth in Elle. She didn't understand why her aunt was freaking out. She didn't understand what was going on, and it didn't help that Esme wouldn't tell her anything.
She heard shuffling in the background until she heard a familiar voice.
"Hi, cariño." Her aunt's wife, Charlotte, spoke.
"Char, what's going on? Why is Esme telling me all these things?"
"Listen, sweetpea, things are happening. Strange things. I don't know how to explain it right now, and neither does Es. You know how she gets when she's worried. All I know is that Glenn's gonna protect you, okay? And I know that you'll protect him, right? Because that's what you do best. I love you so much, okay? And so does Esme. We gotta go, honey. We'll try to call later. Just know we'll always be under the same stars. Bye, Ellie."
The line went dead and her stomach dropped. She hadn't heard that phrase since that night. The night her world completely stopped. She hadn't heard that nickname, either, since that night. Ellie. It made her stomach twist into knots until she felt she had to be sick.
The long forgotten popsicle was beginning to melt, the sticky juice falling to the ground. The 'plopping' noise it made broke her train of thought. All the poor girl wanted was someone to tell her that whatever was happening was some kind of sick joke. A late April fools joke, and that she could go back to stressing about her last math test coming up. Any moment now, Esme would call and say it was a joke and tell her to stop worrying, she just knew it.
