At some point, Caroline and Ben had both fallen asleep. Caroline slept out of pure exhaustion, and Ben slept because he was simply tired. Even though after today Ben would never see Caroline again, he knew he would never forget her. She changed his life.
Before he had fallen asleep, Ben noticed that Caroline was wearing very baggy clothing along with the cast on her arm. He would tell when she was curled up in his arms that she was way too skinny, verging on malnourished.
He also noticed that her skin was a sickly pale complexion. He also noticed her hair was thin and frail. It hurt him to see her like this. He wondered what she would look like healthy. He wondered why she allowed herself to be this way. He wondered how long she was like this, had she ever looked healthy.
When they had begun to wake up, the sun was starting to set. As Caroline stirred in her sleep, Ben watched the sun go down. It was almost dark when she had fully woken up. She noticed their position and assumed he was uncomfortable, and moved back to her seat even though she felt safe in his arms. Ben was saddened when she moved but allowed it, also assuming she was uncomfortable.
Without another word, Ben cleared his throat and started the car. Caroline kept her gaze out her window as she sat with the blanket over her legs that were now dry again.
She smiled, thinking about the ocean. She wondered if Augustine had ever been to the ocean, he probably had because the kids from their school often threw parties at the beach, but she never went. She didn't like parties or the people from that school.
"What did you want to be growing up," Ben asked. Caroline thought for a moment. She never really thought about her future as a child. She only ended up becoming a nurse because it was cheap schooling and good pay.
"I never thought about my future a lot as a child, I always assumed I would be dead by 20, but I did want to be a fashion designer when I was in middle school," she smiles, laughing at the memory of all the outfits she designed in her sketchbooks.
"Why didn't you?"
"Become a fashion designer? I don't know. I didn't think I would be good enough."
"Were you good at drawing?" he asked, glancing at Caroline.
"I didn't think so, but Augustine did" she smiled, remembering his words. These are amazing.
"Well then, he must have been right," Ben smiled.
word count: 435
أنت تقرأ
Over, Gone, and Lost
القصة القصيرة"Whatcha doing?" "I'm about to kill myself so don't try to stop me" "I wasn't going to, but can I make a suggestion" "What" "You should do it on the bridge over Jefferson Lake, it's higher and the water is colder so if you don't die on impact you...
