TO THE STARS

Chapter 7

Day 18

Nightmares don't have specific timing, they come and go, like diseases. When they do come, they embrace you with their cold scaly hands and drag you into their darkest abyss but when you're lucky enough to escape, it's feels like a rainbow over the sun; beautiful.

Today was one of those unlucky nights. One of those nights I woke up with accelerated heartbeats and short breaths, drained in sweats and confused as to where I was. I laid still, staring up at the ceiling and attempting to control my breathing..again. I had gotten so used to the feeling of falling, surrounded by Bryan's evil smirk, I no longer scream anymore. It was just like watching a movie over and over again and you could predict what would happen next. I counted the little stars on the ceiling that Dad painted for me when I was younger as I continued to breathe in and out. Telling myself I was fine, I was safe and Bryan was too far away to hurt me.

I expected to feel Mom's warm body against mine but I was met with cold sheets. Maybe she didn't sleep here or maybe she went to get some water from the kitchen, like she always did. I was too tired to think further into it, so I continued counting and tapping along to the ticking of my clock.

Tick..tok.. Tick..tok.. Tick..tok.

It went exactly ten times so did my tapping, before I suddenly began to feel restless. I glanced at the said clock and 2:25am was boldly written in big red characters. I scampered out of bed, glanced back to the empty bed, grabbed a clean blanket from the drawers and began my journey to the balcony. I walked slowly, drew back the curtains, slid open the door and was stunned by what I saw.

The dark clear sky was decorated with thousands of stars as they sparkled and shone beautifully. I stood with my back to the wall, admiring the lovely scene in front of me before sliding down slowly. I drew my knees closer to my chest and wrapped the blanket tightly around my body, forming a cocoon. I sat there quietly, eavesdropping on the night's musical concert; the crickets were singing soulfully, fireflies were boldly dancing around me like fairies, the horn of a far away car blasted beautifully at the background, the bugs buzzed in harmony and the rich echoed bark of a neighbor's dog finished it off. It was indeed the greatest show.

The symphony was so beautiful that I couldn't help but smile to myself, drawing in the sweet smell of the pine trees through my nose. It all remained me of my childhood days; the days my brother and I sent playing out in the backyard. I remembered when we were little and Mom and Dad would stay with us there at night as we caught fireflies in our glass jars or how Andrew never caught one because he was too impatient. I also remembered the day we first caught one, we were so excited. Dad told us to make a wish and let it go so it could tell the 'Wish Master'.

Back then, I eagerly looked forward to nighttime so I could make more wishes; it was my best time of the day. As I watched the fireflies drift further away from sight, I wished that my life could be taken back to eighteen days ago; hopeful the Wish Master would be kind to me and grant my little request.

As the breeze brushed against my arm; tickling me in the process, little goosebumps slowly began to appear on my skin. The wind was starting to pick up, making me wrap the blanket around me more tightly.

A few hours ago, I had promised Andrew that we would have a siblings day out, just like old times and to be honest, a day full of blissful nonsense was truly what I needed right now.

My peace and quiet was interrupted when I started hearing noises from inside the room. It wasn't loud but it was enough to reach my ears. There was the opening and closing of the door, ruffling of the bed sheets and the tip tap of someone's footsteps heading my way. "Dear, are you outside?", Mom asked, drawing back the curtains and searching for me through the darkness.