Heavenly Refuge

Heavenly Refuge ~ Ch. 1

        "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

        She layed on the hospital bed, broken and frail, her eyelids barely open. "I wanted to enjoy the time I had, not rushed by time." she said, her voice paper thin. How could she make it so he could understand. The beeping of the monitor that was overlooking her heart filled the silence.

        "You didn't say you would die. You didn't tell me this was fatal!" 

        "And what would you have done differently if you knew we only had so little time?" she asked.

        He couldn't believe it. Shaking his head, he kneeled at her bedside. The girl that was vibrant and alive, was fading before his eyes. Damn, he couldn't answer her question.

        "Hey," she interrupted his thoughts, "I wouldn't have wanted it any other way, but before this turns into one of those sappy moments, I have a confession."

        "What?"

        She grinned with a last wicked glint in her eye. "I broke your iPod."

                                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        It was bright and early as Luna got up to see the seagulls cawing at the window. She got up and her light brown hair swished around her. It was still early so Dad wasn’t up. Luna looked around her room that was filled with newly painted colors. The walls were plain and white, nothing special. Boxes lined up against the walls. The queen bed, rumpled since she got up and started to get dressed. Red tank-top and jean shorts. It was still pretty warm for September. When Luna was brushing her hair, she stared into the mirror as her gray, storm-colored eyes stared back at her. She checked the clock. Just now, five-thirty… Luna sighed. Why do I always get up so early?, she thought.

        She went into the old, worn down kitchen and grabbed a green pear. A bunch of boxes were still unpacked. Luna went out the screen door and into the, now, dawning sunlight. Her Dad would know where she was. He knew, instantly, that when we moved that she liked the place. Luna’s mother was killed in an accident years ago so it was only her and her Dad, on the beach of Lotus, Florida. Lotus is a small town on Meritt Island. Luna lived right on the sand white beaches.

        Now, Luna was walking up to the pier that looked over the dark Atlantic Ocean and made light, tapping noises as she walked over the wood. The salty, ocean air was warm as a couple homeless people wandered around. Luna took a bite of the pear. The buoy out there bobbed, slowly as the bell rang quietly in the distance.

        It’s September 2. I have to go to the doctors tomorrow to talk about how the chemotherapy from the old doctor in Atlanta didn’t work. Then I have to start school, Luna realized. 

        As she thought about it, the sky had turned a bunch of pretty colors. Yellow fading into orange, orange fading into red, red fading into pink, then it turned a lighter shade of gray again. The sound of the tide lapping against the shore was so relaxing that Luna failed to notice a group of kids running down the pier at top speed.

        One of them knocked into Luna, pushing her over the railing. Suddenly, she was in the cold water. It was over head and she couldn’t see a thing. She flailed and tried to swim up but her clothed just kept on dragging her back down. Soon, she was under and didn’t have the strength to fight anymore. Someone help me! God, I’m not ready to die yet!, she prayed. Her sight was going fuzzy and dark. Then, she barely felt that she was being yanked up onto the surface of the water. Luna gasped, grateful for the oxygen in the air. Someone grunted as the person tried to swim to the shore. It took only minutes what seemed like hours as they struggled.