The Dimension Wanderer *HIATUS*

Chapter Seven ~hello again~

The noon sun glared down on the ruckus below it: officers in white gloves and boots caging creatures, talking loudly into their radios, and creatures running every which way. Soon the officers would catch all the creatures who weren't fast enough to flee in time, and the officers would come for Aelia. She only had a few minutes before that time came.

Sierra stood next to her, questions written all over her face. They quickly escaped out her lips. "You're running? Where will you go? Where are these creatures from; what are they? And how do you plan to save them?"

Aelia covered her ears. "I don't know! I'm sorry, but now is not a good time to ask me, well, anything!" Aelia didn't like to yell at people, but she was a firm believer that sometimes, yelling is a great form of therapy. Her lungs were quite satisfied once she was able to exercise them properly. She exhaled. "Sorry. That was rude."

Sierra stood quietly. She shook her head. "No. I should be sorry. I just got a little too excited. I do that a lot."

"Hey, it's okay." Aelia scrunched up her forehead in concentration. "I don't suppose I could get any of my stuff from inside my apartment. I'll just run with what I've got on my back then." Stress decided to settle on Aelia's shoulders like a hungry vulture on a dead tree. It pecked at her irritatingly. Maybe she could go back later.  No, not likely. But the mirror. She had to get her mirror. That's how her mom had spoken to her before.

"I might be able to help you find a place to stay temporarily," Sierra said. She fished around in her pocket and pulled out her phone. Bling flashed on the case, and Aelia squinted at it warily.

"How so?"

"My mom's not too happy with my dad right now. They've been this way for a while." The corner of Sierra's lips edged upward in an awkward smile, but her eyes betrayed her real emotion as they glittered like her phone case. "My mom finally had enough of it Thursday night. She's staying at a hotel. She would shelter you for at least a few nights."

"I'm so sorry," Aelia said softly. She swallowed. "On Friday you didn't look upset...  If I had known..."

"I don't think acting upset and all would help that much," Sierra said. "I am, but being able to smile and laugh still is what keeps me strong. And sane." She laughed a little then, as if to prove her point.

Aelia hesitated. "Then is it all fake?"

"What do you mean? What's fake?"

"Your smiling and laughter."

Sierra started. "Not at all! I choose joy. Maybe I'm not happy all the time, but I choose joy."

Aelia wondered if that was even possible. She had definitely tried. She had definitely failed.  "I wish I could do that."

"Don't get me choked up." Sierra sounded a little choked up already. She started typing on her phone. "You just have to center yourself on something that can never change. Something that won't ever rot or decay or be destroyed. For me, that's my faith. I don't believe anything in this world is indestructible, so I found something outside of this world." She paused. "There." She stopped typing and slid her phone back into her pocket. "My mom should be here to pick me up in fifteen minutes. You'll come too. I'll tell my dad that she's coming, and trust me- he won't ask any questions. Until then, we need to find a place to hide you."

"She'll really help?" Aelia asked. She had to doubt.

"She will. My dad will be all over this case, and she'd be happy to make him tear out his hair over it a little more by housing you." Sierra eyed her father, making notes on a clipboard.