Through the Dark

Chapter 1

My parents and I were in the living room of the cottage where we lived. Seated on two sofas, which were facing each other, were my mother and father, both completely engrossed in the books they were reading. The two of them were as still as a statue while I was running all round the house with my brown teddy bear in my hand. What a contrast of picture between my parents and I; they were diligently doing their work, in silence, while I was playing with the stuffed animal and was in disarray.

For a second it felt as if it was true. However, I was brought back to reality by the banging on the door.
"Vianna dinner's ready," Reese shouted from the other side with her usual cheery voice.
"I'm not feeling well. I'll eat later," I replied promptly, with a voice which was unknown to my own ears. Hearing my hoarse tone, Reese came inside my room to check in on me.
"Why, what happened?" she asked, concern marring her whole face.
"Just the seasonal fever I think," I brushed off.

Reese was not satisfied by my answer and stood there, for a moment, contemplating what to do.
"Really I'm fine Reese. Don't worry," I said mustering a stronger tone than the one I used before.
"I'll be one call away if you need me," she finally said, kissed the top of my forehead and left the room to leave me to my solitary.

Reese was probably one of the only few people in my life who I could trust. That was because she had been there with me for as long as I could remember. Both my mother and my father had died when I was of a young age for which I could not remember much about either of them. Occasionally, memories used to resurface but as I grew older those seemed like a scene from a movie that I had seen a long time back. As far as I could recall, my parents were book enthusiasts and they were keen with their work. At times, it seemed comical that those were the only few memories, about them, which were left with me. Regardless, it was the bitter reality that did not accept any alternation. After their departure, Reese was the one who I landed with. Even though we were not related by blood and she was only a few years older than me, Reese acted like the guardian that I needed. She was always there by my side and looked after me like my own mother.

Reese had left me some food and I ate that following it with medicine to cure the fever that was rising. By the time I finished eating, it was 8 o'clock at night. I felt my eyelids grow as heavy as it could be even though I mostly slept past midnight. I was deep in my slumber before I knew it because the mild fever accompanied with the medicines, made me feeble and tired. 

The next time when I opened my eyes it was early morning. The silhouette of the high rise buildings could be seen in the distance through my window. Birds were chirping and the weather was just prefect outside with the occasional breeze blowing. I checked my phone to see that it was 6 in the morning. Ignoring the slight headache, I got up to get going with the day with great enthusiasm.

"How are you feeling?" Reese asked me as I emerged the kitchen fully ready in my school's attire. She was sipping through her morning coffee and had her laptop open, in front of her. Though Reese was not out of her sleeping clothes, I figured out that she was working on something in her laptop because of the seriousness her facet held. It was only a little after 6 in the morning, and there she was, all ready to start the day with no sign of tiredness in her eyes even though I knew she slept way past midnight.

"As normal as I could be," I replied and joined her to sit by the table. Even though I was not fully well, I knew that if I said that, Reese would have insisted that I stayed at home. It was nothing severe but on any normal day I would have tried to use it as a justification to skip school without any reluctance. However, that day something as silly as a minor fever was not an excuse to stay inside and miss the great event for which I had been yearning for months. The opening ceremony for the annual basketball game would be held and I was in the team, as the team captain. I had been looking forward to that day for months straight and would not skip it for anything.