Short fic writing trip

Adoption fic 4

It had been years since that day, yet without fail, every new moon brought the same memory to the forefront of her mind. She supposes that not everything can go away. It took months for things to stop reminding her of what happened. Everyday she used to be plagued by the memory because everything somehow connected to that day. She couldn't look Tommy in the eyes at all for weeks, she refused to go to adoption housings, she couldn't stand it when it was sunny out. She couldn't even take a shower without breaking down because no matter how hard she scrubbed, at points to when her skin was raw and in some places bleeding, she never felt clean. It was horrible, but over time it lessened.

Or maybe she just grew desensitized to it.

Yet still things lingered, like how blue eyes made her cringe, or how the new moon would bring the full force of the memory through in her nightmares. Such as it had done tonight.

It had been 3 years, and yet she still remembered it so vividly, just as she remembers the reason she came to the orphanage and even met Emily in the first place. On nights like these she went on walks out in the park, a fairly well forested area with enough artificial light filtering in from the nearby road to keep her from getting lost. Sometimes she'd bring a book and climb a tree to read, or she'd walk aimlessly with music softly drowning out her thoughts. Other times she'd bring a knife she found one day and practice using it, taking her anger out on some fallen trunk or poor old tree that had little life left in it.

And occasionally, she'd just cry.

Tonight happened to be a knife night. She was tired of every month needing to be bookended with a worse nightmare than usual, and tired that she wasn't over it by now, and just angry that it happened in general. So angry, in fact, she was lost to the world, swinging with so much force she didn't notice the person behind her.

That is, until they cleared their throat, and she nearly slit it in her frenzy.

The person froze, rightfully in fear, as did she. They stood in silence for a moment until she spoke, deeper and quieter than usual to try and ward off the unknown and possible threat.

"Whoever you are, now is not the time to introduce yourself. I suggest you leave."

The person nodded, and began to walk away slowly. She kept her knife and gaze fixed on their retreating figure, until they finally booked it about 3 yards from her. Sighing, she felt her previous anger drain from her, leaving her empty and suddenly aware of the chill breeze that rustled the budding leaves and her threadbare sweats. She was still emotionally strung up from her nightmare, so she just sat down and pulled out her earbuds. Keeping one ear open for awareness, she let the grainy and slow melody of All the Angels take what's left of her wired energy and allow her to calm down.

It wasn't until her phone alerted her it went into low power mode that she felt ready enough to return to her room, and so she quietly ducked her way into the hallway just outside of it through the cracked window she left unlocked. A floorboard creaked underneath her weight, and she froze, cringing at the echo it made. She knew almost all of the orphanage was occupied by heavy sleepers, but that didn't stop her instinctive reaction. She climbed in fully and made it to her room, avoiding all the boards she knew would squeak. Now thoroughly exhausted, she all but collapsed into bed and let the dark take her once more.