Freaks

Epilogue

꧁★꧂

Twelve years ago, a summer in San Francisco, California. Three sisters; Bridget who was the oldest, fresh on seventeen, Rora who was the most untamed thirteen-year-old you would've ever witnessed, and Aster who was seven and constantly amused by them.

This summer was a hot one, it was the last summer Aster got to see true colors. Bridget wanted to spend time with her sisters before Senior year took up her time. They traveled all around, to the mall, the beach, and the carnival. And all of them came back with loads of bags of clothes and shoes, of food and candy, and bright blue slushies that stained their tongues.

The whole summer was a daydream, full of bright colors, like a neon glow at night. But that day was like the last sentence Aster could explain of those colors.

Though, to the very end, it was joyous. When they were driving back home in Bridget's one-rowed truck, very late that night. Rora was high on sugar, it made her even crazier, she rolled down her window and stuck her blue tongue in the air, parts of her short bronze hair were stuck together from her sticky hands. Bridget was trying not to laugh, trying to stop her but she couldn't help but laugh.

And Aster was in the middle, her stomach hurting as she giggled, slugged in her seat, tired but also restless. Laugh after laugh, Rora was halfway out of the window when Bridget finally decided to reach over and pull her back by her shirt.

But that's where it ended, that's where the laughing turned into Rora suddenly yelling, screaming. Aster could only close her eyes and huddle against herself until she knew it was over. That was when all she could do was listen as wheels squealed and glass shattered, concaving noises of metal against metal. Then she heard nothing at all, all was silent, and she was dreaming. But her dream was as if whatever had just happened wasn't real, as if that was a nightmare and she just woke up from it. In her dream Bridget woke her up, they were home, their tummies were full and their cheeks hurt from smiling. All three of them tried their hardest not to wake up their parents as they snuck to Bridget's room, all of them laid down and laughed a little more until they fell asleep, shopping bags all over them, lips stained blue, living inside the sweet memory.

But Aster, young and innocent, opened her eyes where the ceiling of the truck was practically two inches away from her face. She could only hear herself breathing heavily and her heart racing, she could see that the only light filled around her was flashing red and blue.

She slowly started to hear chattering instead of ringing in her ears. She slowly realized what happened and where she was. Though she did not let her brain trick her into thinking about the possibilities of her sisters, her small brain was very confused, it told her the ceiling was far too low, that her skin felt something repulsively warm...turning cold, but her mind imagined them getting out of this together.

Soon, as she sat there for a while, the thud on her head, the scratches on her knees, and the strange pain inside her arm all grew more painful, the loneliness began to creep her out. She finally yelled and screamed, copying Rora. She yelled for Bridget, maybe they were already out. She yelled for her mother and father, for help. And then her yells turned into sobs. Footsteps came very quickly, but they were heavy and unfamiliar. They were somewhere outside of the truck and asked for her name, she told them, and she told them her sister's names, she spoke as if they were both still alive.

Help us.

Whoever those footsteps were, they argued with each other, they argued about how to get her out. One of them was impulsive, she could hear as he climbed on the bed of the truck, men yelled at him but he must've been doing something none of the others had the bravery to do. That's when Aster could see a hand up above her head, it was like a rope she had to use to save herself from drowning.