Project Swan -- kotlc

S e v e n

        "Olivia!" Sophie hissed, swinging her door open. "Wake up!"

        She rolled over, muttering something. "No!" This was one of the best naps she had ever experienced, she wasn't ready to move again. But once Sophie tore the blankets off, there seemed to be no use to staying in bed. "Fine," she shouted and sat up, immediately feeling like she was going to pass out. Sophie helped her up then helped her downstairs to where Edaline and Grady were setting up the table.

        "Did you have a good nap?" Edaline asked, patting Olivia's messy hair.

        "Probably the best I've had in a while," she yawned while stretching. "It is a very comfortable bed."

        Edaline nodded and motioned for the girls to sit down. "Do you . . . do you have any questions?" she asked quietly, playing with her food.        

        Sophie shook her head. Olivia nodded. "How do we pay for things here? Is everything free?"

        Sophie glanced at Olivia. "Alden already told us this. We get a cube with like five million whatever-they're-called." The blonde stuffed some mush into her mouth.

        "Lusters," Grady corrected. "Five million lusters."

        Olivia nodded and took a sip of her drink. Lushberry Juice, she thought, reading the label. She shrugged and chugged the rest down. Sophie snorted. "Guess I'll finally be a millionaire."

        Grady nodded and finished his plate. "I have a lot of work to do." He kissed his wife on the crown of her head and walked off.

        Edaline smiled awkwardly at the two, and they returned the smile.

        "Well I'm done," Olivia stuttered. "Are you done, Sophie? Please say you're done."

        "Yeah," Sophie said, finishing the last of her mush. "I'm done"

        "You two should go to sleep," Edaline said. "We are going into town tomorrow early in the morning."

        Olivia smiled tightly. "Right."

        Sophie and Olivia stood up, carrying their plates. Just as they were about to walk into what they assumed was the kitchen, Edaline snapped her fingers and they disappeared.

        "Good night, girls."

        "Good night, Edaline."

        "I'm so tired," Olivia yawned.

        "You just woke up," Sophie reminded.

        "Okay? I haven't slept in like a year."

        Sophie frowned. "How come?"        

        Olivia shrugged. "I've been struggling a bit. I have sleep paralysis so it makes it a bit difficult to go back to sleep." She looked at her feet as they walked upstairs. "Did you have any pets?" she asked, hoping to change the subject

        "I had a cat," Sophie recalled, "Marty. He was nice." Olivia nodded and slumped upstairs. "You?"

        "A dog—corgi to be exact. I named him Baguette. In my defense I was five," she added when Sophie giggled. The two parted ways once they reached Olivia's room. It was dark, but light illuminated from the jar of moonlight, a pastel red from some flowers that hung above her bed. "Why does everything glow?" she asked herself, changing into some elven pajamas and crawling into bed. It took a lot longer to fall asleep than usual, but after listening to some music, she fell asleep with her earbuds in.