"Shine so bright that it burns their eyes."
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Luna Hopper, a 17 year old sophomore at Hawkins High, wants nothing more than to finish high school and move away from the small town she's forced to call home. Her cold demeanor and standoffish nature h...
Luna sits silently in a comfortable chair next to Sarah's hospital bed. She leans her head on her hand while her feet are curled up next to her body. Jim is currently at work, but Diane is at the hospital with her daughters.
Diane fell asleep a while ago. She falls asleep easily these days as she's constantly emotionally drained from all of the stress of dealing with medical bills all while trying to comfort her youngest daughter who is battling cancer.
Luna is the opposite. She can't remember the last time she slept a full eight hours. Sometimes she passes out like Diane due to being completely drained, but when she lays down with the intention of falling asleep her brain swims in unanswered questions. It's one thing after another until she gives up on rest entirely.
Luna looks up when she hears Sarah move around in her bed. It's dark, but with the amount of time that Luna has spent in this same room, she can picture everything clearly even with the light off. She can imagine the piles of 'get well soon' cards on Sarah's bedside table, she can imagine the ugly picture of a black and white landscape on the wall above her head, and she can imagine the tiger stuffed animal that sits at Sarah's side, tucked underneath her arm like it always is.
"Can't sleep?" Luna whispers, gaining Sarah's attention. Sarah shakes her head as an answer. "Me neither," Luna says, pulling her lips to the side.
Sarah fiddles with the blanket over her body. "I'm so bored in here."
Luna sighs, feeling horrible for her little sister, until an idea pops into her head. Luna stands up from her chair and walks over to the small table beside Sarah's bed. She grabs a book from one of the shelves underneath the drawer as Sarah scoots over on her bed to make space for Luna. Luna lays down next to Sarah and brings the blanket up and over their heads before placing the picture book in between the two and opening the cover.
"It's too dark," Sarah whispers.
"You're right," Luna says, but she doesn't make any move to get a flashlight which confuses Sarah. "If I tell you something, I need you to keep it a secret."
