Freezing cold rain poured from the sky in buckets. The air was so cold you could see your breath as it came out in puffs of warm air. It was the beginning of winter break. The sky was gray and filled with clouds. Inside the house sat a teenage girl with shoulder length black hair and dusk blue eyes. She was alone, and was slouching on a couch. The wind howled outside, leaves and debris were sent flying the the violent gust. One hit the window with a clatter, but the girl did not even flinch.
Nothing mattered to Hinami. Not the shrieking wind, or the water flooding the streets. Her usually bright eyes were murky and dark as she stared at the screen in front of her. The local news was on. Big red letters stretched across the middle of the screen, "35 YEAR OLD WOMAN WASHED UP DEAD ON BEACH'' it said.
In the small title underneath, "Hana Wang" was written for the world to see. A pit seemed to form in the bottom of her stomach as she gaped at the horrifying news. Hana Wang. Her aunt. She went missing around 7 days ago.
Authorities had searched for her for days to find nothing. Nothing, not even a clue on her whereabouts. Now, she washed up on the beach. Dead. Hinami could not stop the tears as she sobbed her heart out, she stared at the screen, which continued to show the crime scene.
The beach that she loved playing on was swarming with law enforcement behind a wall of caution tape as a news anchor described the horrifying event. "This morning at roughly 9:30am in Kyma Village, 35 year old Hana Wang's body was found on the local beach by an elderly couple who reported it to the authorities...judging by the rigor mortis and purpling flesh, this was not a new murder..." the man on the TV reported in a monotonous voice. Waves crashing against the beach and the wind howled in the background.
She tuned out the rest of the news show, as she denied the death of her family member. 'She can't be dead. She has not been missing for that long. Only around 7 days. She cannot possibly be dead ' Beneath her denial, Hinami knew that her aunt was truly no longer in this world.
Hinami could not stop the tears from flowing as she sobbed her heart out. No one was there to comfort her; as like most days, her mother had already left early in the morning, heading out to work.
She bawled, mourning the loss of her best friend, her closest family member, her support in life. Nostalgic memories flashed through her head.
Aunt Hana was the one who did everything with her. They would go to the beach together, splashing each other playfully, floating in the waves. They would go out to ice cream, and go on road trips to see the world. They would admire the stars together at night, and Aunt Hana would describe the places she had been. When her mother was not there for her, Aunt Hana, Allie, and Hinami would hang out together, laughing, and playing. Allie. Allie spent most of her time with Hinami, and by extension, Aunt Hana. She hoped that Allie was faring decently okay. She knew no one would be fine after the loss of a companion, but she at least hoped that Allie was not doing as bad as herself.
Allie (short for Alexandra) was Hinami's only, and best friend. Sure, Hinami had close acquaintances and people who were polite to her, but in her opinion, none were genuinely close enough to be friends.
Allie lived in the home across the street from Hinami. Almost identical to Hinami's own, Allie's house was a two storied terrace house that was painted a pastel teal with white highlights instead of baby blue like Hinami's house. Allie had a small white picket fence with a small daisy filled front yard. Hinami's house, on the other hand, had no fence to her grassy yard, and bright flowers lined the edge of the house. She should visit Allie to see if she is okay. Grabbing a raincoat, she sprinted across the road. She made it to Allie's house safe and dry, as puffs of hot air emanated from her mouth as she caught her breath.
Wiping her tears away, Hinami plastered a fake smile on her face, and rang the doorbell. The front door was opened by Allie's mother, Mrs. Hart.
Mrs. Hart was a kindred spirit. With warm brown hair and hazel eyes, she always emanates a comforting aura. Almost immediately after opening the door, Mrs. Hart noticed Hinami's distress and gave a hug.
Ushering her inside and out of the raging storm outside, she whispered, "Allie is upstairs in her room." Hinami barely heard her gentle words as she was overcome with grief, but she nodded numbly before clambering up the set of stairs to Allie's room.
Arriving at the top of the stairs, she knocked on Allie's door. Clearing her throat, she hoarsely called, "Allie, it's Hinami. Do you mind if I come in?"
There was a pause of silence, and Hinami began to worry about her friend. 'Was Allie asleep or something? Was something wrong with her? Is she okay? ' Hinami was concerned, but did not want to disturb the privacy of her friend.
Just as she was about to leave, she heard a small voice that said, "Come in."
Gently opening the door, she found Allie sitting on the edge of her bed, staring out the window. Her window had the perfect view of the beach, which was usually beautiful and perfect, and was lit up with red and blue lights. Police cars circled the edge of the village, and the usually bustling streets were deserted with only the cars of the residents of the street parked.
The sky seemed to mourn for Aunt Hana, as the sun did not show and clouds covered the horizon. Slowly padding across Allie's lavender carpet, Hinami sat next to her. They stared out the window, not saying a word to each other. It was completely quiet except the occasional raindrop that patterned on the windowsill..
"Hi," Hinami softly said after the silence became too unbearably awkward. She did not want to disturb Allie or make her feel awkward or uncomfortable. After all, she had come here to comfort Allie, not let herself be comforted by Allie.
She was met with no reply. Once again, a stillness seemed to permeate the room, engulfing them in suffocating awkwardness. 'At least I tried.' Hinami internally shrugged helplessly. She did not know what to do to make her friend feel better. After all, how would one cheer another up without being able to cheer themselves up? So, Hinami sat there, trying to just be there for her friend, who was not ready to talk.
After what seemed like an eternity, Allie eventually whispered, "hi," in a trembling voice. She seemed to be just as heartbroken as Hinami.
Both of them loved to hang out with Hinami's aunt, Hana, who was a very outgoing person. She was always smiling and laughing; she was a great role model. At least for learning how to be optimistic. So seeing her appear dead on the TV must have been quite the shock to her too.
Most of the time they spent together, Allie and Hinami hung out with Aunt Hana, as Mr. Hart was usually busy at work, and Mrs. Hart had to take care of Allie's younger brother. And of course, Hinami's own mother, Aiko, seemed too caught up with work to be at home for extended periods of time. and so was Hinami's mother, Aiko. When they were younger, they were required to have an adult supervise them when they went anywhere.
Because of this, they got to spend much of their childhood with Hinami's closest relative, Aunt Hana. Aunt Hana lived a block away from them, and the moment they went out to play, they would find her waiting outside for them. At first, it was quite annoying to the little kids, but as they got to know Aunt Hana, they realized how cool she was. They did everything together, play on the beach, bake, and learn about the world.
'I guess most of my memories are with Aunt Hana and Allie. Not mom, ' Hinami realized soberly. As much as she loved her mom, Aiko was never there for her.
In fact, she acted more like a bossy older sister than a mother. She was almost always at work, and when she did come home, she was tired, and did not want to do much with Hinami.
She could tell her mother loved her, though. She did care about Hinami. Just in her own way. Something Hinami could never hope to actually understand. Lifting a hand and gently putting it on her friend's shoulder, she whispered, "It is going to be okay."
Comforting someone was not her forte, but nonetheless, she attempted it. She guessed it didn't work though. Allie just stared off into the distance, and did not reply. Her usually bright eyes were dull and unfocused, and her fiery personality had been extinguished by the tsunami of grief.
A single tear dropped out of the corners of Allie's eyes. Then another. And another. Soon, tears were dripping down her face almost as fast as the rainstorm outside. Her stoic expression began to falter as her eyes watered and she began to tremble. Still though, she did not speak. Not even a sound. Hinami hugged her, not knowing what else she could do to help the suffering of her friend.
But then, finally, Allie spoke. "I miss..." she began, "I miss Aunt Hana," she reiterated, still staring off into the distance. Raindrops splashed against the window outside.
After a brief second, Hinami replied, "Me too," and then awkwardly patted her shoulder. "Me too," she repeated again, as tears began to roll down her face, too. And then it was silent again. All you could hear was the soft sounds of raindrops falling from the darkened sky.
The faint rain trickled across the roof, plinking softly like the sounds of harps. Droplets dripped from the roof, displaying small rainbows into Allie's room. Hinami's head resting on Allie's shoulder as they commiserated their aunt's memories, fading like wisps of fog in a windstorm.
Hoped you enjoy! Next chapter will be out in 2 weeks. Thanks for taking the time to read this story. Have a nice weekend!
- EmilyF10