The night was spent late and they slept through the morning, but Blondie made sure to set an alarm for sunrise every morning so she couldn't mess up her bucket list. She did it from the bedroom balcony this time, she knew that doing it outside, in the fresh air helped somehow. She felt closer to the sunrise, and she felt like she could understand it better to draw it well.
The apartment had built-in speakers on the ceiling and on the surround patio, so she played peaceful music from Alexa as she drew. Ironically, as she drew the sunrise, Sunsetz by Cigarettes After Sex played quietly, loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to disrupt.
Mentally, Blondie healed, with every morning she drew the sky, she found comfort in it. Even after she's gone, these sunrises will occur. They'll still be beautiful without her. The world will still spin, even after her sins and her atonements.
She's just a human, on a floating rock, in the middle of other floating rocks, being warmed up by a giant ball of fire millions of miles away. The universe is bigger than she is, she doesn't matter as much as she used to think she did. And to her, that's even better.
Every mistake she makes, every sin she commits, everything she could do for people, she'll still die like everyone does. No matter what she does, it won't be big enough to impact the universe. And because of that, she is free. If what she does changes nothing outside this planet, then she is free to do whatever.
She felt like she spoke to the sun as it rose every morning. Today the sky was a vibrant purple and pink, like cotton candy. She wanted to reach out, grab the cirrocumulus clouds and consume it. Unbothered, the clouds sat, moving to a place unknown.
Blondie chuckled to herself, suddenly remembering herself as a child. Living in Jeonju, South Korea, she used to think the world revolved around her because she couldn't see anything from any other perspective. She never got big headed because of it, she just thought that was how things were. She didn't think she was special either.
Thinking about life has always fascinated her, you can waste it or use the hell out of it. It can be wasted and not be your fault, and it can work in your favor effortlessly. The fact that everyone is born with different privileges, wishing they had what others do, thinking that there are people out there with perfect lives.
But in reality, everyone is sad.
Everyone is stuck scrambling to compare themselves and wish they had what others do, so much so, they forget to show gratitude for the things they have that others envy them for. A horrible cycle that will never end. The cycle is very much human.
And Blondie knows it's a cry for help. The human race should have never existed, we evolved from something, made the world into what it is, and now there's a handful of people with all the money, families are starving on the streets, the planet is dying, their constantly going to war, everyone is depressed, suicidal teenagers are turning into suicidal children as well. The whole human race is a cry for help. We destroy ourselves and are too cowardly to change, so we bring everything, even our own planet down with us.
Yet, with all that we are doing to destroy this floating ball, the sun still shines. Mother nature still provides. The moon still drags the ocean water along with it. The universe goes on, all while the planet is self-destructing.
And even that made Blondie feel better. Everyone is sad. Everyone is dying. Everyone is struggling. The world is ending, and she and Lia will die on their own terms, not with everyone else.
She saw everyone as fools, but if they want to continue working until the end of the world instead of enjoying it, they can. It's their life and they are free to do whatever. They will all claim they are chained to a routine, but the chains are invisible, the lock dangling open waiting to be taken off.
A bit startled, Blondie slightly jumbled her last word on the page after writing their bucket list for the day.
Egg someone's house
Walk on the beach; feet in the ocean water
Blondie was only startled because Lia came up from behind, sitting down with her at the outside table with two cups of tea and sugar packets in her robe pockets.
"Sleep well?" Lia questioned, setting the tea down in front of the blonde one.
"I did, actually. I'm starting to sleep better, finally."
"You didn't sleep well before?"
"No... I had been yanked out of my sleep almost every night for the past two years. I would have nightmares and then wake up into them as well."
"You sleep better because you feel safe with me and you trust me?"
Blondie looked down and smiled to herself, nodding and looking back up the big round eyes that Lia had. "I do."
Lia returned the contentful smile and glanced down at the drawing.
"You have a great hand, did you take art in school?"
Blondie loved the way Lia spoke so mild-mannered and elegantly. She did it naturally, which was the most beautiful she had ever seen.
"I was pretty artsy in high school. That and I'm a tattoo artist, remember?" Blondie teased.
They both chuckled, "It's early, so my memory tends to be impaired." Lia admitted softly. "Oh- egg someone's house. We're at this one already? I was excited for this one. Yours are the crazier ones and mine seem boring."
"Yours are not boring. They're beautiful."
Blondie learned that Lia was a person who had never learned to love herself. She hates herself first before she praises anything about herself. Blondie had to change this mindset.
"So, todays a beach day that we're ending with egging someone's house... we should get Carl's Jr for dinner!" Blondie recommended. She knows how to fuck up a burger and could teach Lia well.
"What about In-and-out?" Lia suggested, it's a popular place she was never allowed to eat from. Though she never had Carl's Jr either.
"Omo... Lia. You should have recommended that on our first day, with how long the lines are, we would have gotten our food on day ten, but now it'll be too late!" Blondie teased, but she didn't completely shut down Lia's idea, "We'll get it for tomorrow's dinner. A really late diner to miss the crowds. Sound good?"
Lia smiled big and nodded, she loves how Blondie never leaves out her desires. Another reason why she always feels so shiny around her.
Together, they got ready for the beach, wearing the swim suits they bought the night before and clothing to wear over it until they got there. They arrived at Santa Monica beach in the early afternoon since they heard this beach gets crowded in the morning.
They easily found a spot, okay, maybe using the word 'easily' is not true. But they found one quicker than they thought. While groups had umbrellas to shade themselves, Blondie and Brownie didn't get one. They planned to tan first.
Sitting down on the towels they brought, they put down their bags and took off their casual clothes to reveal their bikinis. Lia's was dark blue and sunset pink. The contrast went well with her fair skin. And Blondies was all black.
People stared minimally at the women with bruises all over their bodies, wondering what happened to them. But neither of them cared or even noticed.
"Do my sunscreen?" Blondie asked of Brownie when she was done applying it to the parts she could get on her own. Lia was quick to nod and take the bottle of SPF 50 from Blondie's hand.
"Won't it hurt the bruises?" Lia questioned as Blondie laid down on her stomach first, resting her head sideways on her arms. Blondie shrugged,
"The pain doesn't bother me anymore."
So gently, Lia lathered the other women's back side with sun protection. Not trying to make anything out of rubbing her hands along her body, but she had to admit, it felt nice to touch a woman and be trusted by one as well. She felt the need to take care of Blondie.
"Hey, are y'all okay? You're covered in bruises." A middle aged woman, who was here with her husband and kids, said from next to them. She worried that they may be abused by others, like maybe they're siblings in an abusive household. Or they have lovers that hit them. Or they do it to each other.
"We're okay, we're professional stunt doubles. You know the show Swarm? It's a pretty dark show with a lot of violence." Lia answered for them.
"Sounds pretty dangerous." The woman answered back.
"It is, but it pays well. We're on vacation." Blondie pitched in.
"Are you two together?"
Lia was about to object, but Blondie beat her to an answer. "Yes! We met through the show. About five months now."
"Ya!" Lia whined with a laugh, but it was too late to change anything. The woman cooed in amusement.
"You two remind me of my first love. She was blonde just like you, a beauty from South Africa. She managed to flee the continent to come here and embrace her sexuality. And she did it with me..." The woman glanced into the distance, holding a necklace over her chest, staring at the ocean as if it represented something. "But she got lung cancer and passed away three years after we got married. It was tough but I knew she wouldn't want me to waste my life sulking. So I found someone like her and had a family with him. I'm not as happy as I was, but I am happy. Are you two happy?"
"We are. What was her name?" Blondie asked with a genuine grin.
"Lauraline. I used to sing to her in the hospital, ' Sweet Lauraline... bam bam bam!' Those aren't the real lyrics, but her name just fit too well."
"Wow, that's my name!" Blondie jumped up in shock. The middle aged woman pouted and shook hands with her, and just like that Lia thought she knew Blondie's name.
"A beautiful name. It is. You two cherish each other alright? Before you know it, it could all be gone. I don't hate how my life turned out, I wouldn't trade my family for anything, I had just planned to do with Lauraline originally."
If only the woman knew she was giving long term advice to a "couple" with short term plans.
"We will, it was nice meeting you..." Blondie spoke.
"Call me Leah."
"Omo. That's my name!" It was Lia's turn to jump up. Leah gleamed at them.
"You two are perhaps the love story Lauraline and I were supposed to have."
Even though were both staying at the beach for longer, they said their goodbyes and went back to minding their business.
"So your name is Laureline?" Lia questioned as Blondie sat up, letting Lia apply sunscreen onto her front side.
"No. I thought since we're dying, I might as well use a fake name too. Lauraline sounded good." Blondie chuckled, Lia smacked the towel underneath her in response to Blondie lack of seriousness. She admires it, though.
"I could just look at your driver's license." Brownie smart-assed. "If we're in the news, I could get it that way too."
"Ay, let me tell you when we planned? When the countdown ends."
"You love being mysterious, don't you?"
"You're getting to know me better and better!"
Lia giggled, lightly rubbing the sunscreen over Blondie's stomach, going up to her chest but stopping herself. "Is it okay if I put it on your chest, or do you want to do it yourself?"
To put it on Blondie's collarbones, wasn't the concern, it was the part of the swimsuit that didn't cover her breast. Lia didn't want to touch her if it made her uncomfortable.
"You can do it, your hands feel nice." Blondie answered, feeling Lia begin to move up with her hands, "Thank you for asking, Lia."
Brownie glanced at her closed eyes, "You're welcome."
"I find it even more beautiful, how we will have sex soon, we've seen each other naked, showered together, and held one another, yet you ask for consent on the little things. That means the most to me. Though I said you could, you aren't using me. And I respect you for that."
"I know what it means to you, it's the bare minimum, really."
"Not for me."
As the sun fell and the day turned dark, they gathered their things and walked along the coastline. Taking off their shoes to feel the cold ocean water envelope their feet refreshingly. Ocean wind cooled them down, Blondie walked and watched Lia run through the water, kick and giggle to herself.
If only she could videotape the moment and keep the way she feels too.
"Wah! A seashell!" Lia shouted in amazement, she lightly picked it up and found a crab inside. She kept it in her palm safely and showed Blondie. Together, they admired the resting purple and red crab within the seashell. It was small and adorable.
When Lia bent down to set it back down, the ocean water got drawn back, revealing the damp sand, and scores of seashells that were hidden under the sand came up all at once. It triggered ultimate trypophobia in Brownie, she screamed and ran back, falling back onto the dry sand. She held her heart, unable to look away, but being uncomfortably creeped out.
"What is that?" Lia shouted, getting up to grab Blondie's arm.
"They're seashells that were hidden under the sand. You don't like the way it looks?"
Lia silently shook her head and guided them away, back to the parking lot, which was a mile walk back since they walked a mile down.
"You wanna go now?" Blondie reassured Brownie, chuckling at her cute reaction to the seashells.
"Eung. I never wanna come back." Lia stated, completely sure of herself.
"Gwiyeopda." Blondie murmured and they turned back to go to the motorcycle, get dinner, and eggs.
They stopped at the closest Carl's Jr and ordered for dine-in. Blondie got the Famous Star Combo without the cheese and pickles, with the largest fries and a large Dr. Pepper. Lia got the guacamole bacon burger combo as is, with the same sides as Blondie.
The truth was, they both fucked up both of their burgers, they were so hungry. It seems like they forget to eat a lot, they had breakfast at the apartment and completely forgot about lunch at the beach.
Blondie was amused to see Lia eat like an animal. The way her face was frown with each bite she took, but it wasn't a frown of sadness, it was a frown of approval. The food tasted damn good, and smiling didn't give justice to how good it was.
" I was bullied in high school for being Asian," Blondie started, and Lia could relate. She too was bullied at the ballet academy for being Asian. She and the other Asians stayed together though. "I guess it wasn't like, bullied, more like harassed and mocked. But there was a bitch. His name is Derk Hennings. Every time he saw me, he would pull his eyes up and spit slurs at me. Thanks to his Facebook, I was able to find his house. And that is the house we are egging tonight. Might as well add toilet paper too."
So when they finished their food, they went to the nearest store to get cheap eggs and toilet paper to egg this racist fucker's home.
He lived in a basic neighborhood. It seemed like he was neither poor nor rich, but he was stable. He had a white Bronco on the driveway, and a swing on the tree out front, meaning he had children too.
They stared with grins at the house that appeared dark at night. All the lights were off.
Blondie got the honor of throwing the first egg, while Lia got the honor of doing the toilet paper.
"Racist motherfucker. I should have thrown kimchi and rice instead!" Blondie cursed, going ham with the cartons of eggs she had. Lia chuckled gleefully, turning the big green tree white.
They got his car good too. Blondie practically turned the car yellow and Lia stuck toilet paper up the exhaust pipe.
It was when they were finished, they stood across the street and looked at their work proudly. They high fived proudly, eye smiles all around.
They began walking away, but something caught Blondie's eye as she glanced through the backyard fence.
"Wait, look." She said, making Lia as well.
They saw a small white pomeranian nagging at a side door trying to get inside. It whimpered and jumped, calling for someone inside to let them come inside. It made B&B frown. So they neared the fence and opened it slowly. The small dog turned around and stared at them before running up to them and hiding behind Lia's legs.
Lia melted, bending and lifting her hand to pet it, but it flinched and back away suddenly, staring at her with fear and caution. It hid under the stairs leading up to the side door it was just knocking at.
"They're abusing it- her." Lia whispered, correcting her pronoun once she took a deeper look at the dog.
"How do you know?"
"When Buttface put her hand up around you, would you flinch back because you thought she was gonna hit you?"
Blondie nodded, piecing it all together. "So what do we do?"
Lia neared the dog slowly, "We're gonna steal the racist fucker's dog. He probably thinks we're gonna eat it." She chuckled, approaching the dog slowly but surely. "I'm not gonna hurt you." She whispered to her, slowly picking her up and cradling her gently.
Then they ran. Lia took the collar of the dog, threw it onto the soaked car and they ran down the street, back to Blondie's bike.
"We should stop by the store for dog supplies. You're so cute!" Lia pitched, falling in love with the cutie. They were really the squad of abuse victims.
"Okay. What's her name?"
"Bella."