The Girl Who Stopped Time

Family dinner

"Don't get involved, Lorelei." Atlas snipes.

"I'm already involved, you dummy." She says without looking towards him, her head remains straight forward. "You are messing with my element."

"Who ever said I wanted anything to do with your element?" He shoots back.

"No one." She chirps, then clambers her hand along the table searching for something. Her left-hand brushes against the plate and holds it tight while her other hand finds the fork. She does this all while keeping her head facing forward, as well as her eyes. "You seem to have forgotten that just by touch I can know a person's true intentions." She says as if it's nothing at all.

"I don't seem to recall you touching me recently." He says then takes a sip of his wine.

"Even a brush of my fingers can unlock what your true heart desires." She says then finally turns her head towards me.

It is at this moment with her facing towards me that I realize what is so different about her. Her eyes are a deep grey and blend in with her white pupils. She seems to stare through me instead of at me, yet her eyes hold a warmness to them. Almost as if-even though she can't see- she's seen more than I could imagine. It doesn't make any since and yet it does as the same time. She's blind.

"My name is Lorelei, I am love." She says to me. "You can ignore my idiotic brother, he is just angry because he cannot feel what I feel every day."

"You- you're what?" I ask, wanting her to clarify it once more.

She giggles at my suspense and her cheeks turn a light rosy color from her smile. "I am love. I am the embodiment of it. I hold a million hearts in my hand at once, and just as all love should be. I am blind."

"Oh, uh tha-that makes sense." This makes absolutely no sense at all. These people are crazy, I must be in some kind of psych ward or something. I think I might be in a little bit of a state of shock, too much is happening at once.

"Ugh, your mushiness is disgusting." A voice comes from next to her. I lean forward a bit and look over Lorelei's shoulder, behind her is a girl similar in looks except with a skinnier face. She has a braid in her dirty blonde hair and a maroon beany on her head. She's wearing a red flannel shirt and dark jeans; she looks very hipster. "What are you looking at short stack?" She glares at me for a long second then stands quickly, letting out a loud groan as she exits the room.

The room once again becomes silent, then Lorelei cuts in again. "You can ignore her to." She says. "That was Ira, she is hate and anger all mixed up into one."

"Ooh ooh introductions, I love introductions." Pipes in Gilah from across the table, just the seat across from where Ira was sitting. "Well you've already met me kind of but you get to again because I just love introductions."

"So you've mentioned." Atlas mumbles from next to me.

She ignores him and continues on without hesitation. "My name is Gilah, and I am Eternal Joy." She says cheerfully then looks around at the table expectantly, as if waiting for us to all join in chorally in saying 'hi Gilah'.

The boy that sits next to her, who had stolen the little girls doll groans loudly and drops his head on the table with a loud thump.

"Oleander, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Gilah asks him happily.

He lifts up his head slightly and tosses her a glare before commenting. "Didn't you just do that by saying my name?" He says blankly.

"You have to tell her what your element is, silly."