lights are on, (but nobody's home.)

Chapter five: dream a little dream of me.

The line soon after went dead. I then felt my throat slowly closing up.
My bedroom was quiet. The silence was deafening. A million little fragments of thoughts ran through my head.

I couldn't focus on anything.

I heard footsteps nearing my door. My heart dropped.
"Dorothy! Open this door!" My auntie shouted, whilst banging on my door. I walked over and slowly opened the door. "Dorothy, wha-" I hugged her so tight. "Julia is sick!" I wailed into her shoulder.
"What are you talking about!?" She pulled me off of her. "Julia has pneumonia, she isn't doing well. I heard coughing, then mother dropped the phone and she started screaming." I couldn't stop choking on the lump in my throat. I hope she understood me.

She looked at me for a second. As if trying to comprehend what I just said.

"Dorothy! Good, lord! I thought something was seriously wrong!" She scoffed and walked out of my room. "Isn't this serious enough for you? My sister could die!! She could die!!!," I screamed, tears staining my face. "And that isn't 'seriously wrong'!?" I shouted, stepping out of the threshold of my room. She turned around and gave me a stare. A stare that could make a grown man cry.
"Pardon me? I don't believe I like your tone, Miss." she gave me a grin, much like the Cheshire Cat. "I didn't expect you to." I kept my loud tone.

My fear and sadness were turning into anger and disrespect: Two things I didn't know I could have.

"You little brat!-" she grabbed my wrists and squeezed them tight. To the point my hands were turning blue, she then pinned me against the wall. "-I hate you! You are the worst parasite that ever inflicted this family, since your scumbag of a father!" She shrieked into my face, leaving small beads of saliva on my face. "Don't Bring my father into this!" I cried, I squirmed beneath the pressure of her thin, bony hands, on my wrists.

I never talked nor thought about my father in years. And this was not how I imagined that talk would start.

She stared at me as if trying to think of something to say. "You look like your father," her cold, grey eyes traced the lines of my face. "big bug eyes, thin, sick face, paler than death himself. I don't know why your mother thought it was a good idea to marry him." Her voice was stern, strong, almost shouting.
I writhed in the pain plaguing my wrists. "Just, let me go!" I screamed.
She then, just let me go. she turned around and began to walk down the stairs. Her figure blurred, as I began to get teary-eyed whilst I rubbed my sore, black and blue wrists.
She stopped and turned her head a little. "You will not have dinner tonight. You will starve until I feel it is necessary, understood?" She mumbled, glaring at me over her shoulder. "Understood." I weakly responded, on the brink of tears. "Good." She turned away, then, continued down the stairs.

After I was sure she wouldn't hear me, I slid down the wall, crying. This was what my life had become; a living hell.

| "𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚜, 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕: 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜." - 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚞𝚔𝚒 𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚔𝚊𝚖𝚒. |

•some hours later•

I was laying on my bed, drowning in the moonlight, whilst twiddling with the fringe on my thin afghan, that enveloped me in the smell of home. The freezing, cold air filled my lungs and soon was released into a warm cloud; which hung above my head. An empty feeling carved into my stomach, with every passing minute.
I glanced at my clock. I couldn't make out the time, so I got up and walked over to the wall that it so pridefully mounted on. The moon shone bright enough, where I could see the time. "2:57 am," I mumbled, stumbling back to my cold cot.

I started to hum a little melody, a melody that Julia adored...

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢
𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑧𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟 "𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢"
𝐵𝑖𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠
𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒．
𝐿𝑎, 𝑑𝑎, 𝑑𝑎,  𝑑𝑎,  𝑑𝑎, 𝑑𝑎, 𝑑𝑎, 𝑑𝑢𝑚...

I trailed off.

I then felt a lump in my throat and a fog of sadness blinding my sight.
Julia always loved Doris Day. When it would come on the radio, Julia would always sing off-key to her favorite song: Dream A Little Dream. When Julia, couldn't sleep, I would sing it to her.

I grabbed Jane, Julia's favorite doll. "Please get better, Julia." I hugged Jane tight "please."

•five hours later•

"Dorothy! Wake up!" My aunt pounded on the door. I groaned and looked at my clock. '3:09, hmm. What could she want at such an ungodly hour.' I thought, whilst I shuffled to the door. "What do you wa-" I opened the door to see my hysterical aunt prudence was teary-eyed, with her hanky clutched in her hand. "what's wrong?!" I held her steady. "J-Julia-" she sobbed into her handkerchief. "What's wrong with Julia??!!" My voice was thin, as I ran through everything that could've happened.
"Sh-she I-is"
"No."
"She is-"
"No! PLEASE!"
"Gone."

-

"Dolly? Dolly? Dolly?" I heard a sweet voice call out. "Where are you?"
I opened my eyes and found I was in a meadow. I stood up and frantically ran through the meadow. "Julia! Where are you?! Julia! Julia!-" "I'm right here!" A little blond head peeked out from the tall grass and wildflowers. "Julia! You little grasshopper! Don't scare me like that!" I picked her up and swung her around. "I thought I lost you." I hugged her close. "But, you didn't. I'm right here." She pointed her small forefinger at her chest. "Oh! I hadn't noticed." I set her down on the tall grass and sat next to her.
"I made you something, to remember me." She reached her little hand into her jumper pocket and grabbed out a daisy chain crown. "Oh, Jules! Daises are my favorite! Thank you!" I kissed her on the forehead, and just placed the handmade crown on my head.
"You're welcome. It's something to remember me bye." She toyed with the tall grass that surrounded us. I pulled her close to me. "Jules, I'd never leave you. And if they managed to take me, I'd come back to you." I held her closer, slowly becoming teary-eyed. "Promise?" She looked up at me. "Promise." I held her in my arms, hoping I'd never let her go.

"Dorothy! Julia! Get over here!" We jumped at the stern voice. "Yes, mother," I responded helping Julia up. We walked over to our mother, happy as a clam at high tide. Until...
"Your aunt prudence is coming over. And Dorothy is going with her back to England. So, we can save money. I don't want to hear shit from you, Julia! I don't! The same goes for you, Dorothy!" She grabbed Julia by the wrist and stomped back to our house. "Mommy, stop! You're hurting me." Julia tugged in an attempt to get out of our mother's grasp. "Shut up!" She hissed.
I quickly trailed behind. "Let her go! Please! You're hurting her!" Then my mother turned around to face me. "Be quiet, brat!" She shouted. "And why do you have weeds on your head?!!!" She yelled, then ripped the flowers off my head, taking some hair as well. "They are not weeds! It is a flower crown that Julia made for me." I snatched it back. She let Julia go, then she grabbed from me and tore the crown into nothingness. "No!" Julia whimpered. "Come away." She glared at me. "Coming, mother."

-
I sat on my bed, staring at the wall. The desolate room was clouded in a cold, blue hue. My empty, bloodshot eyes were tracing every inch of it.
I had stayed up all night. Creating memories that will never become. I began to hum, which turned into her song...

𝑆𝑎𝑦 "𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡" 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑒
𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑒
𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝐼'𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒
𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒...

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Hi!!! Did you miss me? No? Oh well! I missed you<333 I hope you liked it! Sorry, this is a little shitty :/
What a douche aunt prudence is...
Poor Dorothy.
Poor Julia. I hope you cried but at the same time, I don't. I'm going to try and update more often. Since I'm going on vacation next weekend, I should have a lot of time to write then.
Anyway, stay hydrated, and eat your vegetables, I love you and I'll see you soon<3
All my loving, Polly<3