Burn

Chapter 1

Periwinkle itched her bandages but immediately regretted it once a burning pain shot through her skin.

"Doctor said don't touch it unless you're using your burn cream!" Heather; her mother's friend, had always been a stickler for the rules. She follows everything to a T, thinking it leaves less room for issues in the future. Periwinkle looked out her window with her one good eye. She lightly hovered her hand over her bandaged eye, expecting the light and shadows to dance through it. She just wanted to see something, anything, any kind of sign that her vision in that eye could possibly return. But there was nothing, pure darkness. Heather shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the silence.

"So it's been a while since I last saw you, you were probably about 10 years old when our families last spoke in person!" She tried to get Periwinkle's mind off her injuries, which did help somewhat, but now she was remembering the fact her family was gone. Burnt alive and soon to be forgotten along with the ashes of her childhood home. Periwinkle's eyebrows furrowed in response. While remaining silent as a response, she heard a soft sob. Turning her attention to Heather, her eye went wide in realization that she was crying.

"I'm sorry, I tried to stay calm for you but I... I just can't." Heather croaked through her tears. Periwinkle wanted nothing more than to comfort her but she had no idea how. Nor was she able to muster up any words since she was a child. All she could do was listen.

"Your mother and I went way back, she was so much more than simply a friend, she was everything to me, I'm sure she meant just as much to you as well." She sniffled trying to force a smile. "We were inseparable until she got married to your father..." The sorrow filled her voice as she continued on. "Sure we kept in touch but I never thought the last day I'd see her was at our 4th of July BBQ" She laughed sadly as they both remembered the day. "Your dad burnt all the meat and your mother and I ended up feeding you guys smores. Bad idea, you were all bouncing off the walls" Her smile grew into a more somber feeling. "Anyways, the boys haven't changed much, I'm sure you'll all get along" Heather looks over to see Periwinkle in tears. Quickly realizing she was breaking down, she rubbed her eye and smiled up at the older woman next to her. As Heather parked in the garage of their home a tween boy with a nerf gun runs in front of her car, almost getting hit.

"Boys!" Right as they saw their mother poke her head out from the tinted window they all dashed inside. Heather's tan skin somehow glowed as she stepped into the sunlight. It made Periwinkle scrunch up in her seat self-consciously.

"Well, come on~" Her thick Latina accent somehow soothed Periwinkle's anxiety. She did as told and got out of the car. She rubbed the goosebumps that laid on her sickly pale skin with her fingertips, nerves starting to get the best of her.

"Boys!" Periwinkle heard down the hall as she entered the house through the garage. Lost already she begins looking around for where Heather went seeing as she was only comfortable around her at the moment. She heard a female's voice and instantly reached for the knob thinking it to be Heather's. But to her surprise it was Heather's oldest son, Warren, in bed with what she could only assume was his girlfriend. Warren used to be her best friend before she moved, she can only presume that he's matured. Going from the boy who threw beetles at the girls who bullied her to the practically naked man in front of her now. Periwinkle was like a deer in the headlights but once the girl realized someone walked in, she screamed. Warren looked at Periwinkle, absolutely terrified, in his eyes there was just a mummified woman standing in his doorway. Quickly covering himself he rushes over to the door and slams it in her face.

"Fuck this scooby doo shit! I'm leaving!" Is all Periwinkle could hear from the other side. The door swings open revealing a now dressed woman scowling at Periwinkle in disgust as she runs out the garage door.