One Balloon Away

101 | final chapter

It was amazing how a single balloon had saved her life. It was amazing how a simple act of kindness could go a long way.

          Reneé had thought she was helping someone by informing them of Emma's state, that she was on her last missions of kindness. but she in turn was being helped by the same person. She thought she was out on a journey of helping someone, but she turned out to be the victim of the act of kindness. Did it work though?

Sure, this wasn't what she had sought in her destination, but the journey was more than she could ever imagine.

It wasn't perfect, the drug dealer tricked her, Axel was a jerk to her, Zephyrine had lied to her, she barely had food on some days but yet she hadn't expected anything more. Zephyrine was a great friend, Mike and his mother were still there with her while Noah was in the hospital, hope wasn't lost.

Life was still the same, imperfect, but it was enough.

She had thought the life of a teenager was unbearable, that it was exceptionally hard. But she was wrong, it was life, adults experienced it too, it was only that adults got used to it, while teenagers were still learning to cope with it.

Life could be hard, but it could be good too. Life could be a plain old vanilla cake, but you can always add funfetti.

Sometimes, expectations could break you. But sometimes, unexpectations can make you.

Nothing was perfect. Reneé's parents were still divorced. She still had a broken family. Reneé's grandmother was still ill. Chloé and Reneé were on talking terms, but not best friends. Nathan's radio shop still struggled. She still didn't know what to do with her life.

But whatever and whoever she had, it was enough.

Ciara wasn't dead, as much as Reneé would like her to. Reneé wasn't healed.

But Reneé was on the journey of healing. She tried to slowly kill Ciara.

For, Ciara's life was in Renee's hands, as she was just a figment of her imagination, of her mind full of swirling thoughts. Reneé had struggled and suffered mentally for the past few years, all she could see were the problems around her which gave her anxiety. All these problems, all these words of people, their comments morphed into a single person, Ciara, who occupied a part of brain.  Often people look for a blame when they get problems, the things they could whine about. But Reneé had so many things that it was difficult to pinpoint the sole reason of her state, and so everything contorted into a single part of her brain, Ciara.

Ciara was there with her always and everywhere. She continued to drag her into the dark abysses of the mind.

But why did everything morph into Ciara? The Ciara Reneé had met at the fair was the most beautiful memory of hers, that girl held the most important place in her life, in her ambitions and morals. When evil and sadness creeps in, it targets the best parts of you, the happiest parts of you.

Everybody has a Ciara in their life. Reneé barely managed to keep her from consuming her. She wished everybody else too would strive to kill her before she consumed them.